


We Make it Work... Most of the Time?

by LemonKiwiCandy



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Dragon AU, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Matoki - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Multi, My First Fanfic, OT6, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2018-12-11 20:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 60,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11721612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonKiwiCandy/pseuds/LemonKiwiCandy
Summary: Long ago the goddess Harmonia gave dragons and humans a mark that bound them together to finally end the war between them.Now centuries later a group of boys and their dragons come together and start their own adventure.





	1. Background Lore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter is going to be a world background lore thing which doesn't involve B.A.P so if you don't care for that then you can skip to the next chapter. If you want more info then read the end notes please! :)  
> Shout out to my friend for editing this for me!

Since the beginning of the new era, humans and dragons were at war with each other. They fought for anything and everything. If the dragons had land, the humans would take it from them, killing any dragon that did not leave quick enough, leaving a slaughter. If the humans had food, it was stolen from their very hands and anyone who fought back were killed without remorse.

 

This war went on for hundreds of years, the delicate balance of the heavens torn to shreds and the earth withering under all the bloodshed tainting the soil. Too blinded by rage and fear, neither side noticed the earth morphing into a lifeless wasteland until it was too late. Both sides blamed the other for why their land was dying, refusing to believe that any of this was their fault. The dragons being the older race decided the only way to revive their forsaken land was to eliminate all human kind, but the humans had the same plan. Soon, war broke out everywhere and bodies started to litter the land - a true massacre.

 

A young child was running from her burning village when she tripped over a strange rock; a closer look revealed that the rock was actually a dragon egg. The child quickly picked the egg up, lifting it up over her head ready to smash it into the ground. The child, hesitant, had never ended a life before. The egg in her grasp was warm and the unborn dragon twitched inside the shell as if it knew what was coming. The child did not notice the tears streaming down her face when suddenly there was a large explosion far behind her. 

 

The dragons attacking the village had caught up to the humans escaping through the forest. Without a second thought she ran as fast as she could, holding the egg close to her chest. A small hole that lead into a hollow tree was spotted by the young child, quickly making her way to it  and placing the egg inside before looking around, grabbing a large piece of bark and climbing into the hollow opening of the tree as well, using the bark to cover the hole. She clutched the egg close to her chest again, praying no one would notice the odd looking covering and that the dragons would fly over ignoring the tree.

 

The child didn’t remember falling asleep but when she opened her eyes the first thing she noticed was that the bark blocking the hole was moved, letting daylight filter inside the small hiding place. Next, she noticed the egg was gone - no, not gone, smashed. Smashed to pieces that littered the little bit of ground inside the tree. Did she crush the egg in her sleep? No, she couldn’t have because there was no dragon. A chirping noise from outside caught the child's attention. Looking out the hollow tree, she saw a young hatchling dragging what appeared to be a fruit of some sort. The thought of food made her stomach rumble. Slowly, she got up to leave the hollow tree and walked up to the hatchling, caution in her steps.

 

The hatchling, realizing it wasn't alone, looked up to the child and began to chirp happily at her, nudging the strange fruit closer to her feet. The child picked up the fruit to examine it. It was almost as big as her head, with the tip being a lilac purple shifting into red near the middle. The child would have been more cautious about eating it but her stomach rumbled once more. Taking a bite, she was met with a pleasant sweet taste and a soft texture. Looking back at the hatchling she met it's gaze and, feeling grateful, she ripped the fruit in half and shared it with the hatchling. 

 

After finishing the fruit the child made sure to save whatever seeds she could. Studying the hatchling, it was probably only around 2 feet tall and 4 feet long, mostly white with small black accents for it’s appearance. The scales had a shifting translucent rainbow effect under the light filtering through the trees. Deciding that the hatchling was better off living in the forest, the child started walking to the village she was escaping to when her home village was attacked. The hatchling had other plans, and followed the retreating child walking close behind, crashing into her legs when she suddenly stopped. Looking down at the hatchling, the girl didn’t have the heart to chase the baby dragon off. Maybe she could sneak the hatchling into the village. Smooshing the dragon into her travel sack she entered the village and quickly walked to her grandma’s house on the outskirts, making sure to avoid any detection from the village’s residents. Her grandmother passed earlier that year but her family kept the house for emergencies. It appeared no one else was there. She let the hatchling out and let it get accustomed to its new surroundings.

 

Days turned into weeks and then into months. The child's family never showed up to the village. She assumed the worst and hid her sorrow by helping out the other villagers with any tasks they ere doing. They, in return, kept her well fed and clothed. The hatchling became well adjusted to staying indoors during the day and sneaking out to the forest during the night. As the hatchling grew into a juvenile dragon it became harder and harder to hide inside the house, but the problem was solved one afternoon. Dragons found the peaceful village and started to attack, raining fire from the skies. Everyone was in a panic, the dragons taking advantage of that and began to attack close range. The child threw what she could into a travel bag, already planning escape routes in her head. The juvenile dragon had a plan of its own, not wasting any time bolting out of the door. Shocked by the action, the child forgot about packing and quickly chased after the dragon. 

 

The dragon reached the middle of the battle, taking a powerful stance, and let out a commanding roar. The attacking dragons stopped suddenly, confused as to why this dragon wasn’t fighting but instead telling them to  _ leave _ . The humans snapped out of their shock with one brave villager charging the grounded dragon with a farming tool, successfully stabbing the dragon in its hind leg. The other villagers soon followed until suddenly they were being pushed away by the orphaned child. Tears streamed down her face as she held the dragon’s head near her trembling body. It was clear to everyone - even the enemy dragons - the bond that these two shared was a strong one. Regret shook the core of every creature there; they all felt some sort of guilt for playing a part in the dragon’s death. The tears of the child turned into the tears of the village and dragons as they could only watch her silent pleas. 

 

In what seemed to be a trick caused by the sun, the fallen dragon began to glow, the light became so blinding the child had to back away. The light vanished, left standing in its place was a beautiful woman. On her head were two black horns accenting her long flowing white hair, various parts of her body covered in white scales shifting translucent rainbows in the sunlight. What stood out most was the long dragon tail and piercing amber eyes she had. Instantly recognizing the new creature, the child ran towards the seemingly reborn dragon, wrapping her arms around the dragonoid human being's waist,  burying her head into her tummy. After the shock dulled, the villagers dropped to their knees and begged for forgiveness. The dragons descended from the sky and kneeled in front of the woman. It was at that moment the dragon woman revealed herself as Harmonia, one of the goddess sisters.

 

Harmonia was thrown from the heavens by her sister, Gaos, when the world turned to ruin. The imbalance between the humans and dragons caused Harmonia to lose her powers while Gaos gained too much, slowly corrupting her core until she could not control herself. Harmonia begged the humans and dragons to help her save her sister and in turn save their world. Minutes passed and nobody made a move nor answered the goddess’ pleas. The child squeezed the goddess’ hand, nodding her head at her. One by one the humans and dragons joined them, asking about plans or how they could help. It took weeks to come up with a solid plan, one they knew would not fail, but it was easier said than done. The humans and dragons still had trouble getting along. Harmonia took the last of her powers and opened a link between humans and dragons using a special mark that bound a human to a dragon. This mark allowed the duo to share mind, body, and soul. After enough training they were ready to face Gaos.

 

With the help of the child, Harmonia was able to open a rift to the goddess’ palace. The duo lead their small army to Gaos’ chamber where the true battle began. The battle was long and tiring, casualties slowly raising in numbers, and their determination was wearing thin. Finally the finishing blow was dealt and Gaos was subdued, balance was returned to the world and Harmonia gained her power back. 

 

When they returned to the village and sent scouts to the other villages, the child and goddess’ adventure spread like wildlife, other villages began to follow in their footsteps and forged peace between the two races. The small village turned into a thriving kingdom. In the center of the kingdom was a fountain with statues of the two goddesses and the child, surrounding them were the 12 dragons and humans heroes who helped restore balance to the world.

 

There were still humans and dragons who refused to conform to peace, they still held grudges against the other race. Occasionally they would act out and attack anyone who followed the kingdom. To solve this problem the remaining heroes build a defense system called the dragon guard. A problem arises when they realized that it was nearly impossible for just any human and dragon to be compatible. Only members with the mark from Harmonia could truly succeed. As a parting gift the two goddesses blessed more humans and dragons with the mark before ascending back to their home. The dragon guard was able to grow stronger now with more members and the child became the first queen of the kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for fun and it's also my first time writing a fic. I tagged this as ot6 but i'm not sure if it's going to be romantic or platonic yet. Only time will tell. Each member is going to get an introduction chapter focused on them, then i will move on to random point of views. I don't know how long this is going to be but I'll try my best to update it every Saturday.


	2. Ch1. History of Yongguk and he fights ShiShi or something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Yongguk's chapter... I don't know what else to say? I wasn't expecting it to be so long??? Even tho this is a dragon au it takes forever for the dragons to actually appear. I apologize.

The sun was barely peaking over the mountain tops. For any normal human they would just be waking up, but not the inhabitants of Spring Meadows. The small village was always up and working at the first sign of light. By the time afternoon rolled around everyone had just finished their morning work and were now taking a break and relaxing through the hottest part of the day. Well, most were relaxing; a mother was moving around the kitchen juggling between checking on the cake in the oven, preparing the meat for later tonight, and keeping her children from eating the already finished pastries set on the party trays.

 

“Come on mom, just one brownie.” Whined the eldest of three children, a young 16 year old girl.

 

“No, Natasha. If I told the boys no, what makes you think I’ll say yes to you?” Their mother huffed and lifted an eyebrow at her children questioning why they were still trying. “Why don’t you go see if your father needs help. Just because it is the boys’ birthday does not mean you guys get to opt out of helping around the farm.”  Seeing their hesitancy to leave without any sweets she finally broke. “Fine, you each can have ONE brownie, but if I see anyone take more than one it’s extra work around the house. That means you, Yongnam.” She glared at the older twin, who had a knack for nabbing as many sweets as possible.

 

“Yes, Mom!” All three children yelled excited to finally taste one of their mother’s baked goods. Three brownies were quickly picked up and Yongnam reached for another but his mother was too fast and smacked his hand with a wooden spoon. Deciding to retreat with his sister, Yongnam was able to escape his mother’s wrath with just a sore hand. 

 

Yongguk, the younger twin, stayed behind to finish his brownie in the kitchen when an idea formed in his mind. “Mom! Can I give dad a brownie as well? He could probably use a snack right now.” He gave his mother the gummiest of smiles, for he knew this plan was foolproof. His mother of course said yes and he took the biggest brownie. Walking away from the kitchen to the backyard, out of sight from his mother, Yongguk was ready to eat the brownie but then he felt guilty for lying to his mother. Plus, his father did most of the work today, because Mama Bang was in the kitchen all day to ensure the birthday party ran smoothly and he and his siblings were off slacking for most of the morning. Deciding to be a good son, Yongguk took the brownie to his father, who was out by the barn hiding under the shade, drinking some water and wiping the sweat off his neck. Yongguk smiled at his father and handed him the brownie. 

 

“You didn’t steal this from your mother did you?” His father joked, smiling at Yongguk and ruffled his short hair. Taking a bite of the brownie his father’s eyes brightened and his grin grew. Everyone in the small village agreed that Ms.Bang was the best baker in the land, all her sweets tasted like a bite of heaven; so soft and fluffy.

 

After finishing the treat and wiping the crumbs off his hands, Mr.Bang looked off into the distance, watching his other two children lead the animals into the shade and watering hole for a few minutes before looking back at Yongguk. His smile drops and his face becomes serious. “Yongguk, you’re turning 14 this year… Have you put any thought into your future?” Yongguk looked at the ground. He always hated these talks with his parents because it would always create an unpleasant pit in his stomach.

 

“You were blessed and given the mark of the goddess Harmonia. There is a dragon out there waiting to find you. We need to know what you plan on doing about it.” Taking in his son’s silence and uncomfortable poster Mr.Bang decided to stop with the questions. It was Yongguk and Yongnam’s birthday- a day for celebration, not for discussing the unavoidable future that could happen any day. Yongguk’s parents just wanted to be prepared for whatever Yongguk planned to do.

 

Yongguk on the other hand was deep in thought. His mother would often brag about how he was the only person in their cozy village with a mark that bound him to a dragon. It was a big deal to Yongguk because this opened so many doors, too many doors in his personal opinion. Every night Yongguk has been going to bed listing the different outcomes he could run into. He could leave the village to search for his dragon, sure it would be nice to finally see what's beyond the meadows, but so many things could go wrong. He could get lost, and money doesn’t grow on trees. What if he was mugged and left to die? Maybe he would miss his dragon all together.

His father did mention the Dragon Guard, a place where both marked humans and dragons could go to find their other half. If he did that it would make things easier, he wouldn’t even have to wait there if his dragon has yet to show up. The members at one of the many outposts would write down his information and take a picture of his mark and keep in touch for when his dragon did show up. The closest outpost was in a village 2 days away. The part that bothered Yongguk the most was what to do when he finally met his dragon. Does he take his dragon back home with him and continue to work on the farm until he dies? Does he join the Dragon Guard? He personally want to stay with his family but the Dragon Guard did perk his interest, plus he didn't have to become a permanent member, he could just go for basic training then return home. It all came down to what the dragon would want. That was another thing that kept Yongguk up at night. What was his dragon like? Would they get along or would they hate each other? All the stories he was told by passing Dragon Riders were positive and all could be summarized with a simple ‘your dragon is basically a best friend you have yet to meet’ but what if Yongguk was the one outlier that did not become instant best friends with his dragon?

 

All his thoughts were cut short when a bucket of water fell onto his head.

“You Dumbass! You weren’t supposed to drop the bucket as well!” Natasha yelled at a laughing Yongnam. She picked the bucket off Yongguk’s head. 

“Are you okay? You didn’t lose any more brain cells right? What were you even thinking about? It must have been important since Yongnam was able to drop the bucket right in front of you.” Natasha lifted Yongguk’s head to tilt it side to side, checking for any damage, laughing when he tried to swat her hands away.

“Yes. No. and you know what I was thinking about.” came Yongguk’s sort reply. He started to shake his head like a wet dog, Natasha let out a small giggle as she lifted her arms to shield her from the droplets of water. After a bit the shaking stopped and the laughing died down into a peaceful quiet.

 

Yongnam threw his arm around his twin’s shoulder. “I know you don’t like talking about it, but have you put any thought into what you are going to do about the mark situation?” 

Yongguk nodded his head before telling his siblings his plans. “I’m going to head out to the Dragon Guard outpost in Ruby Village. It’s a two day trip so maybe the both of you could come.” Yongguk was nervous to go alone but he knew his parents had to run the farm so his siblings were his best option. He did not have anyone else to ask in the small village of Spring Meadows. Everyone in the village was either out of his age group or scared of his intimidating aura.

“I have always wanted to see the land outside our village even if it’s probably the same. It will be like a mini vacation.” Natasha sighed dreamly.

“What are you going to do when you met your dragon?” Yongnam asked excitedly. He was polite enough to leave out the ‘You are going to let me ride it, right?’

“I’m not sure, I mean, it’s something we both have to agree on... Plus, what if they hate me?” Yongguk mumbled the last part, voicing his fears to his siblings. 

They both quickly jump into action telling Yongguk how no one could hate his gummy smile or anyone who doesn't like him could not have a heart. Yongguk knew they were just saying that to make him feel better, but it worked. 

 

Soon he was playing around with his siblings until the sun started to set and their mother yelled for them to come inside to wash up and start the birthday party. The village was small enough that whenever it was someone’s birthday most of the village would come to attend. It was like a mini festival; there was music, dancing, party games and everyone would bring some sort of food to share. Mrs.Bang’s desserts were always the first to go- no one could resist until after dinner to grab a few. Once everyone was settled down and relaxed, Mr.Bang brought out the cake and everyone sang  _ Happy Birthday _ in the key of tone deaf, wishes were made and gifts opened with pure joy. The party was finally over and the twins thanked everyone who came as they left.

 

A few stayed behind to help clean up and Mama Bang pushed her kids towards the bathrooms to get ready for bed. Yongguk left the bathroom and told his twin to go on before him. When Yongnam looked at him in a confused manner, Yongguk said he wanted to tell their parents his plan. Yongnam gave him a sleepy smile and nodded his head, turning around and head into their shared room.

Yongguk waited for his parents to finish chatting with the last of the guests. He quietly went over what he was going to say, making sure to remember asking about Natasha and Yongnam coming along. The Last guest left and when the door closed, he sprung up, walking as fast as he could towards his parents.

“Slow down, tiger. We are not going anywhere.” His father chuckled patting him on the shoulder. Taking a deep breath Yongguk, calmed his nerves and looked both his parents in the face. 

“I have made my decision. I plan on traveling to Ruby Village’s Dragon Guard outpost, and hopefully they can tell me if my dragon has been registered into their books and if they have, then we could set up a meeting point. If they haven’t, then I will give them my information and they can keep me updated! And when I meet my dragon, then we will discuss what we both want. Also, I would like Natasha and Yongnam to join me.” Yongguk quickly looked to the ground, nervous about this parents decision.

 

“That sounds like a great plan, dear. Just give us a few weeks to save up some money and you guys can take the small wagon.” His mother smiled at him and his father nodded in approval. Yongguk beamed and wished both his parents a good night. When he entered the shared room he found both siblings sitting on one bed waiting for the details. Yongguk simply nodded his head and the two started giggling and dancing around the room in excitement. They only stopped when their mother yelled at them to go to bed. Natasha left the twin’s room after kissing both on the foreheads and wished them good night. Everyone in the household slowly fell into a peaceful sleep.

 

The weeks passed by quickly for everyone. Their mother was near tears as they said their goodbyes, constantly rechecking to make sure her children had everything they needed.

 

“While you are on the road I want you to be safe. Natasha is in charge. You might have to stay there a few nights so if anything bad happens go straight to the Dragon Guard. Got it?” Papa Bang may have not been near tears like his wife, but he was still nervous. He knew his children were strong and could handle themselves, but every parent wants to protect their children from harm. With one final goodbye the kids set off down the road towards Ruby Village in their small family wagon. They took breaks every 2 hours to care for the horses and enjoy the view. They made up new land marks and told fake ghost stories about what creatures live in the forest. 

 

Yongguk took this time to mentally prepare to meet the Dragon Guard. The possibility that he might also meet his dragon came up but he buried those thoughts as soon as they appeared.  _ One step at a time, _ Yongguk thought to himself. 

 

It was a present ride, everyone was enjoying the nature. Yongnam spotted Dragon Riders flying above them. He pointed at them and yelled to get his siblings attention.

“Hey, look! Dragon Riders! Looks like they're heading towards Village.” The siblings looked in the direction of their village and for a moment it seemed like they were all in a dream. Smoke raised above the forest and panic clouded their minds. Natasha quickly snapped out of her trance and turned the wagon around, speeding back to the village.

“This cannot be happening right? Someone probably just set their kitchen on fire.” Yongnam chuckled nervously, he couldn’t even hide his fear. Yongguk trembled in his seat, praying nothing happened to their village, their home, their parents.

 

The sun was setting by the time they got back to the village, painting the destroyed remains of their once home in golden orange hues. Smoke still filled the air, a dragon laid dead on top of a destroyed house. A dragon rider came up to them but the twins ignored them and quickly ran to their house. Natasha forced herself to stay behind and listen to the dragon rider. She had to know what happened.

 

Their once beautiful house now laid half standing and crumpled. Yongguk ran out to the barn while Yongnam went into the house, both of them yelling for their parents. Their calls, their pleas, their prayers were never answered. Their Father was found with a few others in a pool of blood, farm tools in hand, while their mother was later found in the rubble of their destroyed home. With their parents put to rest under the tree they were wedded under, the three siblings were left to grieve in each other’s arms. 

 

Days after the event, the few survivors were helped into carriages with their remaining belongings and shipped off to the closest relative or village. Natasha slowly loaded the last of their belongings into the family wagon. When she was finished, she took her brothers to say one final goodbye to their parents and they cried all the tears they had left. They traveled aimlessly, village to village, sometimes they ventured into towns just to take their mind off their lost home. Ruby Village and the Dragon Guard were completely forgotten. Yongnam and Yongguk still cried every night for a while and Natasha tried to stay strong but even she couldn’t hold back her sorrow some nights. 

 

After months of traveling and living off what they could, their money ran out. They had to settle down in a town called Sleepy Peak. The town was peaceful and Natasha was able to find a job that paid well enough to afford a small one room apartment. Yongguk and Yongnam were still too young to work a real job, but they tried their best to earn money by doing small jobs like pulling weeds, babysitting, and walking dogs. 

 

It was a month after the twin’s 16th birthday when Yongguk remembered that he was in fact marked and there was a dragon waiting to find him. The remainder came from a passing dragon rider’s dragon named Nightshade, who was bound to the North branch leader Hyosung. Yongguk was completely shocked to hear the dragon talking to him and asked Yongnam if he could hear the dragon as well. When Yongnam said no, Yongguk was confused as to why Yongnam couldn’t hear the dragon. Yongnam, on the other hand, was shocked by his twin’s stupidity, and slapped Yongguk up side the head.

 

“I think you have lost too many brain cells my dear brother. Don’t you remember you are a dragon whisperer?”Now, even more confused, Yongguk looked at the dragon and asked why his brother couldn't hear her. 

 

**“Your brother cannot understand me because he does not bear the mark”** Facepalming Yongguk quickly apologised to the dragon and told her he forgot he even has the mark in the first place.

 

**“How could you forget? It’s a pretty big deal.”**

 

“I’ve been through some stuff and you know…” Yongguk waved his hand in the air as if that would tell the dragon what he meant. The conversation was cut short by the dragon’s partner arriving.

 

“Hey Nightshade, who is this?”

 

**“It’s Shishimato’s mark partner.”**

 

“Are you sure?”

 

**“Red skull on the upper back. It’s definitely him.”**

 

“Huh I guess this trip wasn’t a waste after all. Hey Kid, what’s your name!” Hyosung was excited to meet Shishimato’s mark partner, she knew he was going to have to be tough kid if he was going to be able to handle Shishimato.

 

“My name is Bang Yongguk and I am not a kid. Who are you?” Yongguk stood a little taller and put on his best glare.

 

“Whatever you say kid. The name’s Hyosung and here is the game plan: I take you back to the main Dragon Guard outpost, you meet your dragon, and then we start your basic training. After training you’re free take your dragon and do whatever.” She said all of this in one breath, standing in an overused hero pose and the sunlight hit her just right, making her glow. It was pretty impressive. 

 

“Wait! I can’t just leave my family behind!” Panic started to fill Yongguk. The last time he left his family something terrible happened. He wasn't going to let that happen again.

 

“Then bring them along.” It was a simple answer and any normal person would have expected it, but sadly, Hyosung was dealing with Yongguk a.k.a Mr.I-need-a-solid-plan-before-I-do-anything.

 

“We can't just move everything on a whim. What about our house, money, our stu-” Yongguk was cut off by none other than Natasha. Was she here to save the day or add fuel to the chaos?

 

“Don’t worry about us Yongguk. We can follow after you once we saved up a bit.” Natasha had chosen the dark side and Yongnam agreed with her. Yongguk was about to protest again but Hyosung spoke first.

 

“If you need a job I can hook you up. The Dragon Guard could help out with the move and housing situation.” It seems this lady had  _ all  _ the answers. She is the leader of the north branch after all.

 

“Thank you for all your help. Please take care of my brother” Natasha shook Hyosung’s hand as if she was selling her soul to the devil.

 

“Wait! This can’t actually be happening. Natasha, how can you be so easy going about this?” Yongguk once again looking out for his family, but his family had other plans, dragging Yongguk back to their tiny apartment and started packing his bags. He had to be dreaming; nothing in his life has been this easy. Something was going to go wrong.

 

“It was bound to happen one day. We’re just lucky we have don’t have to do this all on our own. Take a chance, Yongguk. What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Natasha tried to reassure her youngest brother. She was waiting for this day to happen- she was ready for her baby brother to fly the nest.

 

“Last time I took a chance we lost our home.” Yongguk mumbled as the memories still fresh in his mind.

 

“Yongguk… You know we couldn’t have done anything to stop that. I know it hurts but we have to move on.” Natasha tried her best to find the right words but it was hard. The wounds from that day were still open and just barely starting to scab over.

 

“I know…” Yongguk wanted to say more but Yongnam came to the rescue and grabbed his twin in a headlock and proceeded to give him a good old fashioned nuggie.

 

“Hey, don’t have a lot of fun without me, you hear?” Yongnam chuckled at his brother's pain. Yongnam was truly on the dark side, it was possible that he was their leader all along.

 

“I won’t… I will miss both of you.” Yongguk was able to break free from Yongnam and gave his twin a tight hug. He started to tremble and tried his best to hold back the tears.

 

“Hey don’t cry bro, you’re going to make me cry.” Yongnam started to cry despite his protests.

 

“We will meet you in the kingdom as soon as possible. You better be a pro by the time we get there.” Natasha also let a few tears slip from her eyes as she joined in the family group hug.

 

“Don’t forget my free ride.”  _ Way to ruin the moment Yongnam  _ both Natasha and Yongguk thought.

 

“See you both soon.” Yongguk let go from the hug and looked at his family one last time. He saw that the dragon riders had packed the last of his belongings onto a wagon and he hopped into the back as well. As he watched the Town of Snowy Peak slowly disappear his eyes became heavy and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

 

Yongguk woke up in an unknown bed. It took a few minutes for the panic to set in, Where was he, Where was his family, what was he doi- all this thoughts were cut off by the door slamming open and a dragon came barreling into the room.

 

**“So You’re my mark partner… Huh I was expecting someone more… Stronger?”** The Dragon was black with a gray cammo pattern, they had red eyes and a red gas mask around its muzzle. How that is even possible Yongguk didn’t even know. Why would a dragon need a gas mask, was it a fashion statement? Is his dragon going thru a phase? 

 

Yongguk pushed these thought aside and got out of bed. The two proceeded to walk about each other in a circle, Yongguk was able to spot the red skull on the dragon’s upper back.  _ So this is my dragon. Hyosung and Nightshade called them Shishimato. If I remember correctly.  _ Yongguk wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to the insult the dragon threw at him. 

 

“Fuck it” Yongguk said under his breath and followed his instincts for once. Without careful planning Yongguk ran straight into Shishimato and bashed his head as hard as he could against the dragon.

 

**“You son of a-”**

 

“Insult my mother and I will kill you.” Growled Yongguk, he got back into a running position ready to defend his mother’s name.

 

**“Well I was wrong about you being weak. Maybe with some training you will be resectable.”** Shishimato was amused by their partner. Yongguk already exceeded their expectations so now all there was left was getting to know the boy.

  
**“I can already tell this is the start of a wonderful partnership.”** Yongguk was honestly relieved to hear his dragon approve of him. He was about to tell Shishimato he felt the same but another dragon came into the room. Another black one like Shishimato but this one had a gray oil spill pattern around it’s neck and on top of its head. Speaking of its head the dragon also had a tiny crank key and had a light blue mask around its muzzle with an anti sign in the middle of the mask. What’s up with dragons and masks? Maybe Yongguk will find the answers later. Apparently both he and Shishimato had been called to Hyosung’s office. As they all walk down to the boss lady’s office, Yongguk can’t help but think everything's going to be alright for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if every chapter is going to be around 4,000 words long? I originally planned on these being simple short chapters but I don't know what happened. Like I struggle to get close to 1,000 words but then 1,000 turns into 4,000? How is that possible?  
> ; ^; 
> 
> Shout out to my lovely friend for editing this chapter for me. I'm not sure if she'll edit all my chapters but I'm very thankful for her. She isn't in the kpop fandom but she loves me enough to do this for me. <3
> 
> The Next chapter is going to be out hopefully next Saturday. It's going to be Himchan's chapter but I'm having a hard time writing it so fingers crossed it comes out okay.


	3. Himchan the Knight and Tatsmato's tattoos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himchan meets his dragon Tatsmato. I'm bad at summaries...

A young 9 year old boy dressed in a tailored suit sat on a piano bench quietly warming up with the rest of the orchestra. When the conductor stepped onto the podium, the orchestra fell silent, and with a wave of his baton the orchestra came back to life, enchanting anyone who listened. The boy’s fingers moved on their own as muscle memory took over. His mind began to wonder else where; thoughts about the pink mark on his right shoulder came and went as he played through his seven measure piano solo. The magical performance came to an ending crescendo and the young musician bowed, then left the stage with all the other instrument players. A faceless person complimented the young boy as he walked by.

 

“Well done, Himchan. You played excellently - as usual.” Others joined in giving Himchan the stale, generic, overused compliments he heard on a daily basis. Never wanting to be seen as rude, Himchan simply smiled and nodded, saying an occasional  _ thank you _ as he made his way to his parent’s coach. When Himchan entered his parents were quick to greet him as they chatted about the concert.

 

“Your solo was quite bland. What had you distracted? Was it the lights? I knew they were too bright.” Mrs.Kim was a famous singer who had a way of enchanting the audience with her soulful voice. She was a very busy woman, but made sure to attend all of Himchan’s important events.

 

“No mother, it wasn’t the lights… Today I saw new dragons at the Dragon Guard... And, well, you know…” Himchan mumbled. He knew how his mother wanted him to pursue music instead of joining the Dragon Guard, but he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Mrs. Kim let out a sigh, while his father chuckled and patted his son on the shoulder.

 

“I will check to see if one of the new recruits shares your mark tomorrow during lunch. How does that sound?” Mr.Kim was the top general of the Dragon Guard. He had started as a lowly cadet - barely able to make it through training - but with a lot of hardwork and dedication, Mr. Kim was able to become one of the best flyers in the Silmul Kingdom. Himchan grew up hearing about his father’s success and that inspired him to become a dragon rider, much to his mother’s displeasure. 

 

“Okay.” Himchan would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited but he knew there was a chance his dragon had yet to show up, so to hide his disappointment he tried to act indifferent towards the outcome. 

 

“Don’t forget your promise to accompany Sunhwa tomorrow. It is rude to leave a young lady-”

 

“I won’t forget mother. I can just bring her along when I visit father.” Mrs.Kim huffed at being interrupted but smiled nonetheless. Deep down she knew Himchan would become a dragon rider no matter what. That did nothing to stop the fear she felt thinking about all the things that could go wrong and take her son away from her. Her troubling thoughts ended when they arrived home, walking into the house, a warm delicious smell wafted through the air. Himchan ran to the dining room to see what dinner awaited them, a lovely golden roasted ham sat in the middle surrounded by various side dishes. At the end of the table sat a chocolate cake with a note on it.

 

_ Sorry I couldn’t make it to the concert tonight. _

_ Do not eat too much cake this time Himchan. Last time you got sick! _

_ Love, Big Sis _

 

Himchan read the note out loud to his parents, pouting at what his sister wrote. He ate too much cake once when he was five and now his sister teases him every chance she got. His parents nudge him to his seat, while Mr.Kim’s dragon enters to join them for dinner. Himchan happily greets the dragon as she settles down at her usual spot near the window.

 

**“Hello, Himchan. How was the concert?”** His father's dragon partner, Kimi, greeted politely, waiting to be served her portion of tonight’s meal.

 

“It went well as always. Did you by any chance look at any of the marks on the new dragons?” Himchan tried and failed to hide his growing curiosity. No one could blame him for being impatient, he’s been waiting for his dragon ever since his best friend, Sunhwa, met her dragon. Usually marked people who lived in the Kingdom Silmul met their dragons earlier than most due to being in the same location as the Dragon Guard headquarters. 

 

**“Nope. I thought it would be best to wait for tomorrow.”**  Kimi gave him a coy dragon smile. She knew all about Himchan’s eagerness, he would come up to her with a whole list of questions or asking for advice. Kimi was impressed with how serious Himchan was when it came to achieving his goal, she just hoped his dragon would want the same goal as him or this could lead to a bumpy road.

 

Himchan was once again pouting, but it turned into a smile when he started eating the meal his sister prepared. The conversation shifted to his parents as they talked about their schedules and future plans, occasionally asking Himchan about  what he might have planned. Other than school, studying, music practice/rehearsal, and waiting for his dragon, Himchan did not have much to do, most of his free time was spent hanging out or shopping with his best friend, Sunhwa. He did hang out with other ‘friends’ but he only did so to keep up with appearances, his so called ‘friends’ were only using him for his title, so he used them to make him seem like the perfect son: intelligent, responsible, hardworking, musically talented, well mannered, handsome, and well liked by not only the adults but his peers as well. 

 

Himchan excused himself from the table after finishing dinner, he walked up the stair to his bedroom and went into the attached personal bathroom where he got ready for bed. With his nightly ritual done he walked out of the bathroom and face planted straight onto his bed. Suddenly exhausted from the long day, Himchan slowly crawled up to the head of the bed and slipped under the blankets. Closing his eyes he made one last wish for his long wait to be over and finally meet his dragon partner. Himchan woke up around seven o’clock in the morning after another dreamless night. He got out of bed to begin his morning routine, as always he put all his effort into his appearance, making sure he looked the part of a well respected high class member of society. A quick look over in the mirror to pick up on any flaws, Himchan made his way down the stairs, giving both his parents and older sister a kiss on the cheek, he left for the little breakfast diner he agreed to meet Sunhwa at.

 

“Hi ya, Himchan.” Sunhwa’s voice carried through the diner as Himchan entered, he joined her at the booth she was sitting at with her albino Solkalra dragon, Cress, resting near her feet. Like usual she was wearing a disguise for some odd reason. Giving her outfit a once over -florescent orange baggy pants to go with her pea green baggy sweater which had to be too warm in the summer heat and to top it all off a pair of zebra striped sunglasses too big for her child face- Himchan had enough of her horrible fashion choice.

 

“Look I understand you don’t want others staring at you because you’re the second princess and all but could you at least try to wear something that wouldn’t make people stare at you like a monster. Actually no could you stop with your disguises all together. They are pointless when you have Cress with you. No offense Cress but you are the only Albino Solkalra in Silmul.” Himchan huffed and crossed his arms with a clear look of distaste on his face.

 

**“None taken. I agree with Himchan, your pants hurt my eyes.”** Sunhwa frowned at both her childhood friend and dragon. She didn’t want to admit they were right, trying her best to win the argument she stumbled with a few counter points but they were stomped down by the two teaming up against her. Finally giving up when their food arrived, she shoveled her food into her mouth signifying the battle was over, they had won. 

 

“What are we going to do after this?” Sunhwa asked when she devoured half her plate like a champ.

 

“First we are getting you a new outfit, depending when that’s done we could go to the dragon guard. Some new dragons came yesterday and I want to see if any of them are my dragon.” Himchan laid out the game plan for today and waited for their input.

 

**“I hope you get your dragon! We could go flying together and traveling would be so much easier.”** Cress let out a happy dragon bark, obviously dreaming of soaring through the sky with her partner and only other human friend.

 

“I thought you two could not fly together unless someone supervising?” Himchan has seen first hand the chaos the two brought whenever they lifted anything above a foot from the ground. He has never seen so many grown men cry.

 

“Technically speaking you would be supervising.”  A smirk formed on Sunhwa’s face, she knew how to get by most rules her family put on her. They were not the best plans but one look at her puppy eyes and most people let her off easy.

 

“I’m pretty sur-”

 

**“Stop ruining the plan.”** Cress interrupted Himchan, she wasn’t about to let pretty boy over there stop their plan of flying without someone constantly looming over them. 

 

“I just don’t want to be held responsible when you fly into a tree or something.” Himchan laughed, his favorite thing to tease them with was the fact they crashed into just about everything: trees, clouds, houses, people, dragons, the ground, the air, etc.

 

“Hey that was only once!..... Okay maybe a few time but we are getting better.” Sunhwa blushed with embarrassment, remembering some of her failures, the terrified screams of riders around her. 

 

**“Yep, we might be the ones teaching you how to fly when your dragon does show up.”** Cress puffed out her chest in pride, she wasn’t one to get embarrassed unlike her partner, to her one failure was just one step closer to success.

 

“I doubt it. Anyways my father said he would at least teach me the basics so I think I’ll trust him over you guys.” Himchan couldn’t stop the soft warm feeling filling his chest when he thought about his father teaching him how to fly.

 

“Oh! Let us attend your private lessons.”  _ The best flyer in Silmul had to have some sort of advice on how to improve that isn’t just ‘get better’,  _ Sunhwa thought to herself, giving Himchan her best puppy eyes.

 

“Sure, but we have to keep it on the downlow, you know” Himchan knew if other people heard about his father’s training lessons they would want to join in as well. It has happened before when his father started to teach him basic self defence and sword techniques.  

 

“Our lips are sealed, right Cress.” Sunhwa with a small smile, made the gesture of zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

 

**“Yeppers.”** Cress was quick to nod her head, she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to learn from the best.

 

After breakfast was finished and paid for the trio went back to the castle the royal family lived in. If you asked Himchan it was more of a mansion than a castle based on the castles in the old books her read but then again what’s the real difference. The two children greet workers as they make their way to Sunhwa’s room. Once there Himchan immediately goes through Sunhwa’s closet looking for something less offensive to the eyes, with the help of Cress the two of them shove Sunhwa into the bathroom with the new outfit. When she came out wearing a burgundy short sleeve shirt, black shorts, and white shoes, they both nodded their heads in approval. Himchan whispered to Cress about possibly burning those hideous clothes, Cress giggled at him but agreed that those clothes had to go.

 

They walked around the castle garden until Sunhwa called them in for lunch, the three of them hurried inside to eat. When the current queen questioned them about the rush, Sunhwa was hasty to reply telling her mother about the new dragons, she seemed more excited about Himchan finally meeting his dragon then he was, but Sunhwa knew that wasn’t true in the slightest. With lunch finished the trio immediately left the castle, and traveled to the Dragon Guard HQ at a breakneck speed. The guards around the HQ perimeter just chuckled and shook their head at the excited kids, knowing exactly how they felt. Himchan took a minute to catch his breath and calm himself before knocking on the door.

 

“Enter.” His Father’s calm muffled voice answered through the door. Both children and dragon entered the office, when Mr.Kim saw his son, he smiled at him, but Himchan could tell by the dull glint in his eyes that sadly his dragon was not here yet.

 

“I’m sorry, Himchan.” Mr.Kim tried to comfort his son by getting up and placing a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. Himchan smile up at him and shook his head.  

 

“No, it’s okay, I knew there was a chance they would not be here.” They shared a few pleasantries about the day, then Himchan, Sunhwa and Cress left the office making their way to a park they would visit often. Sitting down on the swings they stayed silent for a while. Sunhwa tried her best to think of some comforting words, but everything that came to mind didn’t seem good enough. Himchan could sense her stress and it honestly made him feel a little better, knowing that he had such a good friend.

 

“Looks like you still have time to improve before I get my dragon. You should use this time wisely.” Himchan forced his sorrow away and smirked at Sunhwa. Both Cress and Sunhwa snapped their heads towards him with owlish looks of surprise, but started to giggle knowing their friend was okay.

 

**“You better be careful with your words. We might just make you eat them!”** Cress was never one to back down from a challenge. 

 

“We will see who is better when the time comes. Right now I think it’s about time we started heading home. Looks like Mr.Cogs is here to pick you up.” Himchan pointed at the nicely dressed man waiting for them near the park entrance.

 

“Yeah, do you want us to walk you home?” Sunhwa asked as she got up from the swing and waved to Mr.Cogs.

 

“I don’t mind, company is always nice to have around.” With that they set a brisk pace towards Himchan’s home. When they arrive Mrs.Kim greets them at the door, offering Sunhwa a few goodies to take home. One last wave goodbye and the duo leaves with Mr.Cogs. Mrs.Kim tells Himchan to wash up before joining them for dinner, when he enters the dining room he sits next to his older sister and across from his mother, piling freshly cooked food onto his plate. Mrs.Kim asks about her children’s days and frowns slightly when Himchan tells her about his trip to the Dragon Guard. To try and cheer him up she tells him that she’s performing at a nearby town and offers to take him along. Himchan brightens and hastily agrees, he would never miss a chance to see his mother sing. Mrs.Kim tells her son to get a good night's sleep because they would be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Himchan was swift to finish dinner, so he could pack and prepare for bed, the morning could not come sooner.

 

It was five o’clock in the morning when Mrs.Kim woke up to her son jumping onto the bed telling her breakfast was ready. Mrs.Kim laughed and told her son to bring his travel bag downstairs then wait for her at the table. She went into the bathroom the freshen up soon after she grabbed her travel bag and went down stairs leaving her bag next to Himchan’s and joined the rest of the family at the breakfast table. Immediately upon finishing her meal, Himchan took her hand in his and walked with her outside to the coach, their bags were already packed in the back. 

 

Himchan looked out the window at the passing forrest, they had been traveling for a while, about halfway to the next town when he heard a strange sound outside. He looked at his mother and it seemed she noticed it as well, as she got up to ask the horsemen what was happening, when the coach was suddenly sent flying off the road onto its side. Mrs.Kim was knocked unconscious, Himchan panicked, not knowing what to do he managed to struggle his way out the Coach door, he came face to face with a large dragon covered in scars. The dragon had one of the horses in between its powerful jaws, blood running down its chin. The dragon dropped the dead horse and started stalking towards the young boy. Himchan was paralyzed in fear, _this is the end for me_ , his thoughts were interrupted when he heard his mother’s pained groan. _That’s right mother is still in the coach, I have to protect her._ Himchan had to stop the dragon somehow, noticing the broken off shrapnel metal from the coach laying around him he located the longest piece, when the dragon got close enough, he took a chance diving for the metal, picking it up and stabbing the dragon with all his might. The dragon was caught off guard, letting out a pained roar, it pinned Himchan under its sharp claws. Having no other option Himchan closed his eyes, praying for his mother’s safety.

 

Himchan dug up the last bit of courage he had to open his eyes, staring the rogue dragon right in the eye showing no fear. There were more strange sounds, then without warning the rogue dragon was engulfed with pink flames and violently shoved to the side, and the pressure on his chest was gone. Himchan quickly retreated away from the battle. When he looked back at the rogue dragon, he saw it pinned by a black dragon, struggling to get away. When it did manage break free it flew into the forest but was followed by a gang of black dragons. The Dragon who saved Himchan from the rogue slowly made its way to him. Getting a closer look Himchan noticed the smaller details of the dragon, it wasn’t just black like he thought, it had a strange pink mask with two rows of three vertical dots down the center, maybe they were for breathing? On the center of its forehead was a gray plus sign but what stood out the most were the tattoo patterns on its front legs and the word ‘TATS’ across its upper chest. Not knowing what to say Himchan spoke the first words that came to his head.

 

“I swear to the goddesses if your name is Tats, I will feel so bad for you.” 

 

**“Wow, that is some thanks. You** **_do_ ** **know I just saved you from certain death, right?”** The dragon didn’t sound offended, but Himchan wasn’t sure at the moment, being too distracted by his previous statement.

 

“Oh! Umm… Thanks? I’m sorry I can’t get over the possibility your name is literally written across your chest. Please tell me it is not.”  _ Why am I so hung up on its name? _ Himchan thought. Maybe it’s the shock of not being dead getting to him, but for some reason he just couldn’t focus on anything else.

 

**“I hate to let my partner down, but sadly when I was born they decided I already came named. Well, technically my name is Tatsmato.”** The masked dragon giggled at the dazed boy infront of him, wondering if he would notice their matching marks. Tatsmato truthfully only helped the boy because he could feel their bond resonate within him. The Matoki Clan had a strict rule against butting into other’s problems - especially humans.

 

“You poor thing. Wait... did you say partner?” Himchan snapped out of his daze and sure enough, there was a pink plus sign on the dragon’s right shoulder, exactly like his. Overcomed by a rush of emotions, Himchan started to cry - not ugly sobbing. but a silent cry with tears streaming down his face. Tatsmato was quick to comfort his partner, pulling him close and held him there until he quiet down. The other masked dragons came back informing Tatsmato the rogue dragon had been ‘taken care of’. Tatsmato nodded his head. The masked dragons helped carry Himchan’s unconscious mother and the horseman to the town she was supposed to perform at. When they arrived the townspeople were quick to help the injured singer and coach driver. Himchan received a few scratches here and there but nothing life threatening so he opted to stay with his newly found partner.

 

“What kind of dragon are you?” Himchan couldn’t hold back his curiosity. He knew plenty of dragon races but he had never heard or read about black dragons who wore masks. 

 

**“I am a Matoki dragon. One of the most powerful dragons species out there, but my people are quite rare these days. We have a clan with 97 members and the monarch, who is feared by everyone.”** Tatsmato smirked as the stars twinkled in the boy's eyes. The duo talked about personal interests and when Himchan mentioned his goal to become a dragon rider, Tatsmato was unsure, but as the boy shared stories about his father, Tatsmato knew he wanted to become a hero loved by everyone alongside his partner. Before Tatsmato could join Himchan on his journey to becoming a dragon rider, the dragon had to return home and wish everyone farewell. Tatsmato promises to join Himchan as soon as possible, at first Himchan wanted to protest, but understood that family was important and Tatsmato had the right to say goodbye. They bid a parting ‘ _ See you soon _ ’ and go their separate ways, Tatsmato flying back to the Matoki Clan and Himchan walking back to his mother’s bedside.

 

When Himchan woke up the next morning he was once again on the moving road.  _ Was all of that a dream? _ The doubt was killed when he saw his mother’s bandaged head and his own minor injuries bandaged. Mrs.Kim noticed her son was awake and scooped him into her arms, kissing his cheeks repeatedly.

 

“I was so worried when your father told me we were attacked by a rogue dragon yesterday! How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? What happened?” Mrs.Kim refused to loosen her tight hold on her son until he pleaded to be released from the death grip. All of a sudden the door opened and his father somehow managed to get into the coach from Kimi’s back. Himchan again found himself in another death grip, with even more kisses to the cheeks. It took a few minutes but everyone calmed down enough for Himchan to retell the whole event, his parents making mental notes to thank his dragon for saving their beloved son. The family came back home to a feast prepared by the eldest child and a crying Sunhwa who only heard about Himchan and his mother being injured. Cress and Himchan worked on calming down Sunhwa as everyone else settled down for a well needed, relaxing dinner. Himchan told Sunhwa and Cress the whole story but left out how he was scared and bragged about how cool Tatsmato was. The duo were so excited to meet the new dragon, asking when Tatsmato would join them in the kingdom, but Himchan wasn’t sure himself. He told the dragon to take his time and to come when it was ready so, no one really knew when his dragon would show up. 

 

As a week passed by, Himchan searched every library to find everything he could about Matoki dragons but only a few books mentioned Matoki, let alone have any sort of useful information. Himchan found out Matoki were very well hidden and secretive, even lone or rogue Matoki were rare to come across, with only a few riders having maybe seen one or two. Himchan was sitting under a tree in the park with the last book he could find about rare dragon species when a gust of wind turned the pages of the book. He looked up from the book only to be greeted by a familiar dragon. Setting the book aside Himchan ran up to the now grounded Tatsmato and wrapped his arms around its neck.

 

“I missed you! My friend Sunhwa was starting to doubt you even existed.”

 

**“Well, looks we just have to prove her wrong.”** Tatsmato watched as Himchan let go and nodded his head, quickly picking up the book and ran out the park with Tatsmato close behind. He was going to show off his partner to everyone. Now that they were together, nothing could stop them from achieving their dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Michelle for editing this chapter once again. <3 I love you so much.
> 
> I never mentioned Himchan's sister's name because I couldn't find it when I looked it up and I didn't make up a name for her because I'm bad at naming people. Sorry if that bothered anyone.
> 
> The next chapter should be out next Saturday as well. Spoilers it's Jongup's chapter!


	4. Jongup’s Quest and Dadamato Needs to Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wooo Chapter 3! This chapter probably took the longest to write but hey it's done.

Down a thin overgrown path, just past the green hills, rests a small village long forgotten by the world. The only people who can find such a village are ones who don’t have a signal penny to their name. They come to the forgotten village of Daffodil Bridge where they are welcomed to become simple hardworking farmers. It’s not the most luxurious of lives, but they make due with what little they have. The villagers are not the happiest people in the world but they’d rather struggle and have small moments of joy then die on the streets. 

 

The children, on the other hand, often dream of one day leaving this forgotten village to live better lives filled with fame and fortune, but most ended up staying without even trying and the ones who did try always returned within a month when they realized it was near impossible to do anything with the little money they had. The only child known to make a successful escape from the village was a girl blessed with Harmonia’s Mark. The day she turned 16 she left for the nearest Dragon Guard outpost and never returned, eventually forgetting the village like the rest of the world had. This made some people envious of those who bear the mark, but in the end, they could do nothing.

 

It had been a few years since the marked girl left when a new child was born with Harmonia’s mark; a lime green lotus flower on his lower back. The child’s parents were happy their third son, Moon Jongup, was promised a brighter future than most, but at the same time felt remorse for their other two sons, who didn’t have a chance of leaving the poor forgotten village. Growing up Jongup’s brothers tried their best to hide their envy but sometimes they couldn’t stop the bitter feelings of resentment. Jongup was a shy, quiet boy, but he was certainly bright. He was able to understand why his brothers and other kids were sometimes mean to him, and also understood why his parents focused on his brothers more than him and never once did he hold it against them. They all knew one day he was going to abandon Daffodil Bridge and pursue a better life like the girl before him. What they didn't know was that Jongup planned on being different; he would never abandon his family, for he knew deep down his family loved him and he loved his family just as much. Jongup was going to join the Dragon Guard and earn the money to move his family somewhere they didn’t have to work every hour of the day to barely get by. 

 

A typical day for Jongup went as followed: wake up, eat breakfast, brush his teeth, go to ‘school’ (an elder telling them their life story and info from whatever education book they could find), eat lunch, a short dance break, start his chores around the farm, have a short break, finish his chores, play with the other kids until he was called inside, wash up, eat dinner, brush his teeth, sleep, dream about the day he would meet his dragon, rinse and repeat. Other kids tried their best to get out of work but Jongup never had a problem with it; sometimes his mother had to drag him out of the burning sun because he would be too focused on his chores to realize he was burning. By the time Jongup was 12 his mother had found the best and cheapest sunburn remedy. Jongup honestly thought they could make a fortune with the home remedy, for it not only healed sunburns quickly, but it made damaged skin baby soft and healthy afterwards. Mrs. Moon giggled at her youngest son’s idea and told him there were probably better products out there. Jongup shrugged his shoulders and ran off to join the rest of the family as his mother followed smiling to herself. 

 

It was on a warm summer evening when something broke the cycle of repetitiveness for Jongup. He heard another child, Jisu, greet yet another child, a boy he had never seen before. The last time someone came to this village, it was a poor man looking for honest work and that was before Jongup was born. Not once had he heard anything about a child coming to the village alone. This new arrival peaked Jongup’s interest; the boy was tall, but had a baby face, his clothes look more worn than his own hand me downs, and had a bag around his shoulders probably carrying everything he had based on how full it looked. Before Jongup could wonder more about this kid, the elderly woman who watched over them during the evening, Ms. Choi referred to the boy as her grandson and called him over to her. The children around him were quick to start whispering about how it was possible for Ms. Choi to have a grandson when her family ditched her here years ago.  

 

“Maybe they don’t want him eith- Ouch! What was that for?!” Jongup quickly elbowed one of the boys, Sungmin, in the ribs efficiently shutting him up.

 

“Hush, you’re being rude.” Jongup whispered harshly. It’s not everyday someone comes to the village and he didn’t want the new kid to feel unwelcomed.

 

The elderly woman was quick to dismiss the children back home so she could take her nervous looking grandson to her house. Jongup was quick to run home as the others protested, and quietly greeted his family as he made his way to the bathroom to wash off the day’s hard work before dinner. Jongup sat down at the table with the rest of his family, quietly listening to them talk about their day and nodded along to show he was paying attention. When there was a long pause Jongup took this moment to speak.

 

“A new kid appeared out of nowhere today.” His family looked at him with a surprised face. It wasn’t common for people to travel here, but when they did they, usually showed up sometime during the morning or afternoon, never this close to night.

 

“Is that so? We should welcome the new family tomorrow. I wonder if we have anything to bake with.” The three sons perked their heads up like ground hogs at the mention of sweets, but Jongup was quick to fix his mother’s mistake.

 

“No, not a family. It’s just a boy.”

 

“What do you mean just a boy? No one would let their child wander off here alone.” Mrs. Moon looked appalled at the thought of a child coming here alone. Surely he had a family.

 

“Ms. Choi said it was her grandson.” Jongup could tell by the way his family’s faces fall into frowns that they came to the same conclusion as the other children: the boy was most likely abandoned and left with the only option of his forgotten grandmother. 

 

“Oh, I see. Well... make sure to be extra nice to the boy tomorrow, you don’t want Ms. Choi to be upset.” Jongup nodded his head and excused himself from the dinner table. He wanted to get a good night's sleep so he would be well rested for tomorrow.

 

Mr. Moon was surprised to see Jongup already up and about when he entered the kitchen to make breakfast. His youngest valued sleep almost as much as dancing so seeing him buzz around the house getting ready was definitely strange. 

 

“You must be excited to meet the new boy.” Mr. Moon chuckled as his son nodded his head with a smile on his face and a slight blush for being read so easily. When breakfast was placed on the table Jongup wolfed down his food ready to run out the door but his mother was quick to stop him, telling him he had to go to ‘school’. Jongup let a disappointed sigh but went to ‘class’ anyways, sitting on the floor with all the other kids attending this ‘class’, listening to the elder in charge ramble about his youth, giving general life advice, and whatever useful information that was in the falling apart textbook. A lady came in telling everyone lunch was ready, signaling the end of school for today, amnd Jongup let out a quiet cheer and rushed outside to quickly eat lunch. 

 

With their bellies full the kids were gathered up and introduced to the new kid, Junhong. One by one each child introduced themselves to the newcomer. Jongup wanted to talk with Junhong a little more but sadly his grandmother whisked him away to finish a few things and the adults told them it was time to start their chores. Jongup didn’t see much Junhong the first few day, but when he did, Jongup would try and go talk to Junhong, however one of the other kids would stop him telling him not to talk to Junhong. Jongup had no idea why they wouldn’t want to talk to the kid but he listened to them, it’s not like he knew what to say, plus Junhong looked vaguely uncomfortable and Jongup was terrible at comforting people.

 

Jongup finally found his chance to start a conversation with Junhong when he saw the boy wandering around a farm with a confused look on his face and the same tool Jongup in his hands.

 

“Do you need help? No offence, but you look like a lost puppy.” Jongup asked in his normally soft voice. He understood how hard starting on the farm could be first hand. On his first day he and a few other kids somehow managed to let out all the animals. Junhong eye’s widen with bewilderment and nodded his head so quick Jongup couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

 

“Follow me! I know where to go and I’ll show you how to use the tool you’re holding.” Jongup started his farming 101 lesson when the two boys reached their destination. He made sure to take his time when teaching Junhong the basics, not wanting to overwhelm the boy with all his great farming knowledge. By the time their afternoon break rolled around, Jongup was able to fish some information out of the boy. Junhong was 12 - just like him - and more importantly,  he liked to dance. 

 

Jongup invited Junhong to his house to show him his music tiny music collection, and with Junhong’s grandmother’s permission, the two boys raced to Jongup’s house, tripping into his small room. After laughing for a bit Jongup got up and placed an old record onto the outdated player and soon the room was brought to life with lively music. At first, the two boys sat on Jongup’s bed, both to nervous to dance. But after a short while, Jongup swallowed his fears and with the spit collected in his mouth, he started some small movements before gaining confidence,moving his body as graceful as any 12 year old can. Junhong watched in awe as his new friend danced; not wanting to hold back he got up and started to dance as well.

 

Before they knew it, Jongup’s mother came in to tell them their break has been over for a while and they should get back to work or they wouldn’t finish before nightfall. The boys apologize and ran out back to the field, trying their best to finish lickety-split so they could dance more. It was on that day Jongup knew he had finally made a friend who truly understood him, he believed their friendship couldn’t get any better but one day while working out in the farms he noticed that Junhong was also marked, he had a sky blue gear on the back of his left shoulder. Jongup was ecstatic that he wouldn’t have to leave his best friend behind, together they could join the Dragon Guard and see what this world had to offer. 

 

The two of them started a tradition of sneaking out during the night on the weekends to stargaze on one of the hillsides of the village. Neither of them knew how it came to be but they would just lay there in the soft grass and look up into the night sky, quietly sharing stories about themselves. Jongup would often tell Junhong all the gossip, stories, or myths that have been circling around the village since he was just a baby. Junhong, on the other hand, would tell Jongup about his life before he stumbled upon this village. Jongup was honestly shocked to hear about Junhong’s tough upbringing but at the same time was awestruck how someone like Junhong survived the rough roads he traveled.

 

The years danced on and were filled with farm work, late night talks, impromptu dance offs, and the occasional prank. Both boys were finally 16 years old, the youngest age the Dragon Guard started training new recruits. Jongup waited for Junhong to turn 16 before leaving so they could go together. It took his family a while to save up some money for the trip, but when they had enough Jongup was overjoyed. That is, until he saw Junhong running for the village's sole medic. 

 

Granny had passed away from old age and the whole village felt sorrow from the loss, but no one felt the same anguish as Junhong. He tried to be strong but the tears still fell from his eyes like a storm. During her funeral Junhong struggled with his final words and Jongup never once left his side during the morning. The Moon family offered Junhong a place in their home and he gladly accepted, finding it too hard to live in his grandmother’s house all alone. When the two boys went to pack Junhong’s belonging, Junhong found a letter from granny and suddenly he was collapsing to the floor. Jongup caught Junhong before he could hit the ground and held him close. They stayed like that until they both fell asleep on the hardwood floor. Everyday was a battle for Junhong, but with Jongup’s constant support he was able to move on and start to smile again.

 

Jongup had almost completely given up on joining the Dragon Guard; he was much more concerned with Junhong.  _ Sure he’s getting back into the swing of things but I don’t think he’s ready to leave.  _ Jongup thought to himself as both he and Junhong walked back to his house. They were just about to leave the farming area when destiny decided to crash itself into Jongup. Quite literally. Junhong yelped when out of nowhere a large black object landed on his best friend, and after taking a closer look, it was a dragon of some sort. 

 

“Please get off my friend, I think you’re killing him!” The dragon was quick to get off Jongup and started nudging him with it’s masked snout. 

 

**“Shit! He can’t be dead! I NEED him.”** The dragon seemed to panic, shoving Jongup around on the ground. It only stopped when the boy let out a low groan of pain.

 

“What happened? Why does it feel like I’ve been hit by a wagon?” Junhong and the dragon let out a cheer and Jongup looked up at them in a daze; slowly things became clear again. Jongup couldn’t believe a dragon just fell from the sky, landed on him, but somehow didn’t kill him.

 

**“Are you going to get up anytime soon?”**

 

“No. I’m dead now.” Jongup joked lightly but apparently the dragon doesn’t understand his humor.

 

**“WHAT! You can’t be die on me now! I’ve been searching for you for almost a year!”**

 

“A YEAR!? Jongup did you hear that!” Junhong was surprised anyone could look for so long. He would have given up after a week, maybe even sooner.

 

“Yes I did, now will someone help me up?” Jongup was pulled off the ground with the help of Junhong.

 

“I’m honestly surprised you found me. This village is pretty much forgotten to, well… everyone.” Jongup always thought it would be impossible for his dragon to find him, but he was sorely wrong considering it was right in front of him.

 

**“I’m just as surprised as you are. It’s a good thing I followed my instincts or I would have never found you.”**

 

“We should probably get going before my parents start to worry.” The sun was starting to set and dinner was most likely ready to be served.

 

**“I hope they don’t mind a dragon crashing at their place.”**

 

“As long as you don’t crash into the house, I’m sure you’re fine.” The trio laughed as they made their way back to Jongup’s house. On the way there the people still outside stared at them. It was very uncomfortable for all of them, even Junhong, and he wasn’t even being stared at. They quickened their pace, rushing inside the tiny house and slamming the door shut. To say Jongup’s family was surprised at seeing a dragon inside their home was a total understatement, the way their eyes widened to an impossible size, mouths hanged open as they stood there unmoving.

 

“I’m home! This is my dragon… What is your name?” Jongup looked at his dragon awkwardly.  _ Who in their right mind forgets to ask someone their name? Oh wait, I was getting over almost dying.  _ Jongup couldn’t stop himself from glaring at the dragon.

 

**“I’m Dadamato, the fastest Matoki dragon out there.”** The dragon puffed out its chest in pride, but Jongup wasn’t sure if it was lying or not.

 

“Well it is nice to meet you Dadamato. Would you like to join us for dinner?”

 

**“Nah, I already ate. I’ll just wait somewhere.”**

 

“My room is the first door on the left.” Jongup pointed to the hallway that lead to his room.

 

**“Thanks…”**

 

“Jongup” It would seem Jongup wasn’t the only one who forgot to ask for a name.

 

**“Thanks Jongup.”** Dadamato walked off to the boy’s room, somehow opening the door and letting itself get comfortable on Jongup’s bed that was too small but Dadamato made it work. Jongup and Junhong sat at the table in tense silence, no one knowing what to say or how to start. Mrs. Moon cleared her throat before going on about her day and soon everything went back to normal. When everyone was clearing out Jongup’s parents pulled him into a hug before letting him return to his room for the night. The dragon woke up from its slumber as the boys walked in, blinking the sleep out of its eyes. 

 

**“So what’s the plan Stan?”**

 

“If you’re interested, I would like to join the Dragon Guard.” Jongup was certain the dragon would agree but there is always that chance of rejection.

 

**“I was hoping you’d say that.”** Dadamato was more than happy to hear that they both share the same goal.

 

“But-”

 

**“I hate buts.”**

 

“As I was saying, I’m only going if Junhong comes along. I can’t leave you behind, bro.” 

 

“Sure, I’ll tag along. I mean it's obvious you can’t live without me” Junhong took no time to respond, he would follow his best friend to the ends of the earth. 

 

**“Then it’s settled! We leave tomorrow.”**

 

“Wait! Junhong don’t you want to think about this?” Jongup was startled by Junhong’s swift answer, maybe he was blinded by his concern to realize that Junhong was ready for a new adventure.

 

“Nope. I have nothing tying me here if you’re leaving. Plus it would be a nice change of scenery. I haven’t stayed in one place for so long.” Yes, Junhong was still mourning for his loss but he believed that a change in pace would help him, who knows what wonders await them out there, he wasn’t going to hold himself or his best friend back.

 

“I guess you’re right. Looks like we leave tomorrow.” Jongup gave everyone one last smile before kicking Dadamato off his bed only to have it climb back on later that night.

 

The morning came too soon in Jongup’s opinion, Dadamato was ready to leave, but decided to be patient enough to let the boys finish packing their things and waiting outside as they said goodbye.

 

“I promise to write you as soon as I can, and I’ll visit whenever I can.” Jongup held back his tears, he knew this day was coming but no amount of preparing could stop the sorrow he felt leaving his family.

 

“I know you will, sweetpea. You better as well, Junhong!” Mrs. Moon pulled both boys into one final hug, giving them both kisses on the check.

 

“Of course! I’ll tell you all about Jongup’s failures.” Junhong grinned, hiding his sadness by teasing Jongup. The whole village walks them to the edge of the farmland around the village, wishing them luck on their journey, making them promise to be safe. They continue to stand there until the boys and dragon are no longer visible, only then do they slowly make their way to the farms, starting their day of hard work with soft smiles.

 

“You know I’ve been meaning to ask this but why do you look like roadkill.” Junhong was honestly wondering this for a while now. The dragon had a weird lime green mask that had four black triangles pointing inwards in the middle and two spikes on each side of the mask, plus it had what appeared to be tire tracks going diagonally across its face and horizontally across its body.

 

**“What?”**

 

“The tire tracks, my dude.” Jongup was curious as well but he didn’t want to be rude in fear he would get dive bombed again.

 

**“Oh. That’s apart of my skin. We Matoki all have a unique pattern. Mine just happens to be tire tracks.”** Dadamato never really thought about his markings before. Were they really that strange?

 

“And the mask?”  _ Why would a dragon need a mask? Is it trying to be a ninja of some sort? _ Jongup really wanted to know more about his partner.

 

**“Just another thing we Matoki have.”**

 

“Are you born with it on?” Junhong giggled at the thought of a baby Dadamato coming out of its egg with a mask already on its face.

 

**“What? No, it's apart of a ritual thing we do. Like a coming of age thing.”** These kids had some weird questions, but Dadamato was happy to answer them all.

 

“That’s neat.” Both boys seemed satisfied for now. The trio continued down the path until they reached a checkpoint town, and asked for directions to the nearest Dragon Guard outpost. It was in a town called Shimmering Ridge, Dadamato offered to fly them there but both boys shook their head in fear. They instead took a kind man’s offer and rode in the back of his wagon making sure his crates wouldn’t fall out or break against each other. The trip it self took two days because the man stopped at a few small villages along the way but the boys were happy to meet some new people after seeing the same ones for so long. Once they got to the Dragon Guard outpost in Shimmering Ridge, they bid the man farewell and from there a nice lady named Song Jieun put them on another wagon with a few other new recruits that took them straight to the Dragon Guard headquarters in the Kingdom Silmul. 

 

Jongup had always dreamed of seeing the kingdom for himself one day, and it was a beautiful sight indeed. The roads were packed with other wagons, people lined the sidewalks, dragon riders soared through the skies, there were so many tall buildings, and lush green parks. It was almost to much to take in but Jongup tried his best, while Dadamato and Junhong watched in amusement. 

 

When they arrived at the HQ Jieun told them to wait there as she left to get someone to show them around. Standing there taking in everything that had happened these past few days, Jongup was scared this was all a dream. Dadamato was quick to reassure his partner that this was in fact real and to get used to it because things were going to change even more once they join the Guard. Jongup was ready for any challenge thrown his way, this was his life now. With a triumphant smile he looked forward to the new adventure awaiting them and began to step towards his future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Michelle for editing this chapter!  
> The next chapter will be out next Saturday as usual.


	5. ART!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter update but an art update.

I realized I'm not the best at describing the dragons so I tried the draw them!  
I don't know how to add pictures to ao3 so here is a [Link!](http://knightintights.tumblr.com/post/164370996184/this-is-for-my-bap-dragon-au-fanfic) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D I tried my best.


	6. The Great Thief Zelo and the Carefree Dragon Totomato.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4!!!! Junhong meets some people and stuff. Is that a great summary or what?

The town streets were always packed during the afternoon. Some were getting off work while others were about to start, completing errands, on a lunch break, or maybe they were relaxing on their day off. Children getting out of school favored stopping by ice cream stands or stuffing their faces with fresh baked goods- all but one child.

His face was covered by the hood of his cloak as he gracefully weaved in between the unsuspecting people like a dance. Eyes constantly moving, looking for not only the easiest pockets to pick but also escape routes and any possible dangers. Once he picked a target, their belongings were gone before they could even blink. After years of being on the streets, Junhong mastered everything there was to stealing and surviving by the age of 7. 

 

Rumors about Junhong began to circle around after a few close calls with the police and even the Dragon Guard. Some were ridiculous, going as far to say he was some sort of monster brought to this world to stir trouble. Others made up a simpler story of a boy who had no one, left alone to fend for himself. No one knew the true origin of this boy, they didn’t even know his name or where he came from. The only thing they had on the boy was a vague description that could, quite honestly, match any child and a made up name the people yelled at him when he was caught stealing: Zelo. 

 

Junhong was surprised when he first heard the name, thinking that they were mistaking him for someone else. When he realized the townspeople had actually given the time and thought to name this mysterious thief, it gave him an odd warm feeling of finally being noticed, but that feeling was quickly buried when logic took over; if people noticed him enough to give him a name, soon they would be able to spot him before he did anything. Instead of doing the more suitable option of laying low until everything blew over, Junhong rode his misplaced fame, growing braver with how much he stole, and became bolder when choosing the empty vacation homes he would break into to escape the harsh cold nights. 

 

People became obsessed with trying to catch the thief, demanding the inadequate police to do their job or questioning the Dragon Guard as to why they could not catch a measly child. Shopkeepers started to set up their own ganky traps in hopes to finally end their suffering but nothing could stop Junhong. Whenever someone came close to catching the child he would break free with surprising strength and yell _“No one can stop Zelo, the greatest thief in history!”_ as he ran away disappearing as quickly as he appeared. More people began to believe in the rumors about a monster who came from the shadows in the form of a child, sent from the depths to bring misfortune wherever it went.

 

One night as Junhong was looking for a new place to take refuge from the searing summer night, he stumbled across a lady sitting on the ground in an alley propped up against a trashcan. Around her neck was a simple golden chain accented with a few small dangling gems, but in the center of the necklace was a teal diamond about the size of a child’s fist. Junhong had never stolen useless things like jewelry because selling it without being questioned would have been impossible, but something about the diamond called out to him. Hearing footsteps approaching, Junhong snatched the necklace and slipped into the shadows, hastily making his way to an abandoned house to rest.

 

When Junhong awoken the next day, he could hear the normal hustle of the afternoon rush. He took out the stolen jewelry and examined it once more before pocketing it and left the house as if nothing had entered it to begin with. Walking down the street scoping out his next meal, Junhong overheard today’s gossip. Instead of being about the typical mundane problems it was about a valuable treasure that had been stolen off some important lady. Junhong was in too much of a panic to hear the rest, forgetting about lunch, he made a beeline for the children’s park and hid in a plastic tunnel. 

 

_ What am I supposed to do? What is going to happen to me if they catch me? Will I die? I don’t want to find out.  _ Questions swirled around his head as he tried to find a solution.  _ Maybe I could throw it at the police and run.  _ That was his best bet but when he touched the diamond in his pocket the unknown feeling came back to him.  _ No… I want to keep it, there has to be another way. _ Junhong left the playground and looked for another solution, hiding his cringe whenever a policeman or dragon rider passed him. 

 

The answer to his problem came in the form of a wagon leaving the town. Junhong had hitched rides from wagons before and it was his preferred way of traveling from town to town. Praying luck was on his side, Junhong silently jumped into the back of a leaving wagon and hid between a few boxes. Thankful that he always traveled with a few supplies of food and water in his bag, Junhong was able to fight off his hunger until he reached the new town. Quietly he jumped out of the wagon then dashed between the nearest buildings. He finally took a breath of relief, the great thief Zelo was able to get away without a problem. Junhong waited for nightfall so he could take advantage of the shadows to learn the layout of the town. He noticed that this town was smaller than most and did not have any special landmarks, what he did find was a map on a bulletin board that showed the land around the town. 

 

Fatigue soon kicked in as he looked at the map, deciding that he did enough today and no one was going to discover the stolen jewel in his bag, Junhong found a park playground and settled down in one of the hard plastic crawl tunnels. When sunlight forced him to wake up, Junhong walked backed to the map, eating the last of his food. The map showed that this town was a checkpoint for the town he was previously at and the town next over. 

 

“This isn’t the safest place to be.” Junhong mumbled under his breath as his eyes scanned the map for the best location to settle at. There was a nameless small faded village just south of this town, it was easy to miss if someone did not know the village existed and Junhong’s best bet to live a peaceful life until everything blew over.  _ Even if they never stop looking for the necklace it will be easy to hide and it’s not like I’m going to wear it around.  _ Junhong did not know why he was so keen on keeping the necklace but then again he never thought about the  _ why, _ and probably never will. He simply blamed it on the fact thieves never return what they stole, and the great thief Zelo was no exception. 

 

Walking down an overgrown beaten path he assumed lead to the village, Junhong was faced with another problem. This was a small village meaning everyone knew everyone, they were not going to just accept the sudden appearance of a 12 year old kid.  _ Maybe I could just say I’m lost and have nowhere else to go. Yeah that worked before, it will surely work again… I hope.  _ Junhong went over his fake sob story a few times as he enjoyed the change of nature around him. The scenery walking to the village was a lot different from other places traveled, most of the land was flat but here it seemed like the earth didn’t want to stop forming hills. By the time he made it to the outskirts of the village, the sun was slowly nearing sunset, the blue sky just about to turn orange. 

 

There were a few kids outside playing around near the farms, yet no one was tending to said farms. Junhong assumed everyone went inside to start dinner and the kids were left on their own. Taking advantage of the absent adults, Junhong was able to pick a few fruit and was so happy when he stumbled upon a patch of cherry tomatoes, he couldn’t stop himself from snacking on a few. Once Junhong had all his goods hidden away in his trusty bag, he finally took a deep breath and approached the kids still play outside. When a young girl around his age noticed him, she immediately ran up to him.

 

“Hello! Who are you? Why are you here? Where are you from? I’m Jisu, nice to meet you!” The girl- Jisu- said all in one breath. It was pretty impressive, though it caught Junhong completely off guard for some reason or another. He should of been expecting these questions but his mind came up blank and froze his mouth looked like a fish gulping for air. Suddenly, as if Harmonia herself was blessing Junhong, the elderly woman who was watching over the children interrupted.

 

“Well if it isn’t my grandson, I was wondering when you were arriving, your mother never tells me anything these days. Now come here so I can get a better look at you.” The elderly woman said, gesturing for Junhong to come closer. Not knowing what to do he walked closer to the elder and hoped she did not realize he was not her grandson. As the elder examined his face, the children whispered behind him. 

 

“I thought the old hag’s family left her here because they didn’t want her anymore.” One child explained. Junhong honestly felt bad for the older woman; he knew that feeling of abandonment all too well.

 

“Maybe they don’t want him eith- Ouch! What was that for.” Another child was about to add more but was interrupted by an elbow to the ribs.

 

“Hush, you’re being rude.” The kid who elbowed the other replied in such a soft voice, Junhong struggled to hear. He was thankful when the whispering was interrupted by the elderly lady once more.

 

“You must be tired from all your traveling. Come children it is time to go home, your parents are waiting and I need to take my grandson home.” They kids wanted to protest but the older woman had already turned and began walking towards her home. Watching the other children walk off to their own houses, Junhong took this moment to question what he was going to do. Instead of taking all his options and finding the best outcome, Junhong started to follow the woman, Junhong could think all he wanted but nothing is going to change the fact that: one it was going to be nightfall so traveling was impossible, two he was deadly tired from the walk here, three there could be wild animals and four he could just leave tomorrow morning without anyone noticing.

 

When he entered the small house the elderly lady sat him down at the table in the kitchen and proceed to turn on the stove to warm up whatever was in the pot. She came back to sit down across from Junhong, looking him straight in the eye.

 

“I know you are not my grandson, the children were right when they rudely said I was abandoned here by my family. You care for someone with all your heart and they repay you by dumping you somewhere so they do not have to deal with you. Some children I raised.” The elderly woman complained but Junhong was to focused on the part where she confessed to him not being her grandson.  _ What is going to happen to me? Should I run?  _ Junhong was panicking, but the woman seemed to notice and placed her hand on his shoulder trying to sooth the child.

 

“There is no need to look so frightened, child. I’m just a lonely old woman who always wanted grandchildren but never got to see them. I assume you are not here visiting since no one said anything about family coming by. Your clothes seem worn and dirty as if you have been living on the streets... Is that true? If it is, then would you be willing to grant this old woman her dream of having a grandchild?” The elderly woman had taken her hand and folded it in her lap with the other, she smiled at him gently, eyes twinkling with warmth and something inside Junhong broke, was it the loneliness spilling through the cracks or maybe it was the offer of a home where he did not have to worry about being caught. Whatever that feeling was it certainly overpowered the logical side of his brain, throwing all possible dangers out the window. Junhong nodded his head and the elderly woman smiled even brighter.

 

“I should have asked this before, but do you mind telling me your name and age? Also, why did you come here of all places? Surely there are better places out there then this sad forgotten village, I’m not harbouring a fugitive am I?” She laughed softly, covering her mouth with a hand. Junhong gave a nervous chuckle but made sure to cover it up by answer the old lady.

 

“My name is Junhong, I’m 12… I came here because I was traveling town to town and thought it might be a nice change of scenery.” He rubbed the back of his neck giving her a sheepish smile. It wasn’t a complete lie, really he just left out the part about being the thief Zelo and the stolen necklace in his bag. Surely she wouldn’t notice him hiding information. Before he could fester in doubt, the elder laughed once more.

 

“Junhong is such a handsome name for a handsome boy. You may call me grandma but if that makes you uncomfortable then Ms.Choi works as well.” Junhong nodded at Ms.Choi as she got up from her seat. She walked to the cupboard and grabbed two bowls for the soup. She placed one bowl in front of Junhong with a spoon and sat back down with her own. They ate dinner sharing small details about their lives. Junhong learned that Ms.Choi’s husband had pass about 10 years ago and that was when her 2 daughters and 3 sons left her at the small nameless village, which did in fact have a name, Daffodil Bridge but it was so easily forgotten. Junhong in turn told her about the different towns he had been to and how he would dance in front of music shops dreaming of becoming a performer until the shop owners came out to drive him away.

 

“It is getting late. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the village tomorrow afternoon. I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch. We can prepare the other room tomorrow as well.” Ms.Choi explained as she brought out a blanket and pillow for Junhong.

 

“Good night Junhong.”

 

“Good night… grandma.” Junhong whispered quietly, face turning red, why was he so embarrassed, was it because he never had a family before or was he too happy to finally have one. Ms.Choi turned off the lights and headed into her room. Junhong closed his eyes and soon found himself dreaming about soft pastel pastures and soaring through bright skies. 

 

The next afternoon was the most hectic day in Junhong’s life and he's ran from the Dragon Guard before. It was a whirlwind of introductions, rules, questioning looks, and the worst of all a chores list. Apparently since the village is so small children often help out around the farms, Junhong didn’t know if he could survive. Ms.Choi took pity on the overwhelmed child and dismissed him to join the other children. There were 14 kids including him, among the other children there was a boy named, Jongup. He was more on the quiet side but that did not stop them from becoming friends within days of Junhong’s sudden arrival.

 

Most of the other kids ignored Junhong and he tried to make it seem like it didn’t bother him, he was used to being alone but deep down it still hurt. It was a hot summer day and Junhong was unsure what he had to do, he was given a farming tool and was pointed in a general direction, too scared to ask the intimidating farmer any questions he wondered to where the man pointed. A boy his age, Jongup if he remembered correctly, came up to him.

 

“Do you need help? No offence but you look like a lost puppy.” Jongup said in a gentle calming tone, he smiled at the taller boy. Junhong nodded his head so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash. Jongup chuckled at the other boy and told him what he was supposed to do. He even stayed around to make sure Junhong was doing everything correctly. During the afternoon break Jongup showed Junhong his tiny music collection and they both discovered the other liked to dance. They were so caught up in their own little world they forgot to finish their chores. After a light hearted scolding from Jongup’s parents the duo ran out to the fields with new found determination to finish quickly so they could dance some more. It was after that day they became inseparable, wherever one went the other followed. During the hush of night they would sneak out to lay on a hillside and look up at the stars. They would talk for hours under the dim light of the moon, Jongup would tell Junhong all the gossip or stories he’s heard around the village, while Junhong would tell Jongup about his life as Zelo the greatest thief, Jongup would look at him with pure awe as he weaved tales of his victories, but not once did he mention the necklace that brought him here.

 

As the weeks turned into months, Junhong slowly transitioned to the life of a farm boy, sure there are days he wished he could go back to his old thieving days but then he remembers his new life in Daffodil Bridge and wouldn’t want it any other way. 

Four years had past when Ms.Choi passed, leaving a devastated 16 year old Junhong behind. Jongup made sure to stay close, never leaving Junhong’s side threw his grieving state. A week after her passing Junhong found a letter written to him from his granny. The letter read,

  
  


_ Dear Junhong, _

 

_ I know my time is coming to an end and deep down I know you know it to. I wish I could make this easier for you but sadly nothing can make it easier, but know people are there to help you. They understand how hard it is to lose a loved one. _

_ Honestly the real reason to the letter was to thank you for everything you have done for me. Before you came to the village I was a sad lonely old lady waiting for my time to come, but when you agreed to stay with me, it felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders.  _

_ One day I had no one and the next I had a grandson, most would have called me crazy for taking in a random kid off the streets, but they can say whatever they please because I would have not changed it for the world. _

_ They joy you brought me over the years by just saying good morning and smiling gave me the strength to get thru the day. I have honestly never felt this happy ever since I lost my husband, but thanks to you can I pass with a smile on my face and my soul filled with love. _

_ Now you and Jongup better stay out of serious trouble and make sure to eat well. And don’t forget to shower after you dance for a long time because no one likes a smelly boy. _

_ Lastly just remember the pain you are feeling right now will turn into a memory, and the memories will begin to bring happiness. I will always be watching over you so don’t do anything stupid.  _

 

_ Love, _

_ Granny _

 

Tears streamed down Junhong’s face as he clutched the letter close to his chest as Jongup rubbed his back, pulling him into a comforting embrace. They stayed like that until they fell asleep on the floor, letter still held tightly in Junhong’s hands. It was still hard some days but Junhong was able to find the good in life again and with Jongup by his side he was able to smile again.

 

Life on the farm started again for Junhong but he still couldn't stay in granny’s house the memories were still too fresh. Jongup’s family agreed to let Junhong live with them even tho it was a tight fit. Working on the farm wasn’t bad but something felt missing from Junhong’s life, so when life threw a wrench at him in the form of Jongup’s dragon partner, Dadamato, literally crashing into them from the sky, Junhong tagged along with the duo to the Kingdom of Silmul, where the Dragon Guard’s headquarters was located. It was about a week’s worth of travel from Daffodil Bridge to the kingdom and Dadamato constantly complained about just flying there, but both Junhong and Jongup were too scared to try flying without any experience or equipment. Hell, they didn’t even know how to sit on a dragon let alone ride one. Plus Junhong wasn’t blessed with a mark so he definitely did not want to risk falling to his death. Oh how wrong he was.

 

When the trio arrived at the Dragon Guard HQ they were greeted by two other dragon riders with three dragons that looked similar to Dadamato. One had a red gasmask and a camouflage pattern. Another one had a pink mask with a gray plus sign on it’s forehead and tattoo patterns on it’s front legs. Lastly one had a sky blue mask with a gray oil spill pattern on it’s head and around it’s neck, There were gray rings around its front legs and on top of it’s head was a crank key. The one with the sky blue mask stared straight into Junhong’s eyes. It creeped Junhong out, he tried to ignore the dragon’s stare by paying attention to the others and what they were talking about but he couldn’t. 

 

“What do you want?” Junhong finally asked the staring blue masked dragon.

 

**“It looks like you’re my partner.”** The blue masked dragon replied.

 

“What do you mean? I don’t have a mark.” Junhong was in shock. Why would this dragon think he was it’s partner?

 

**“But you understand me and I can feel our connection.”** The blue masked seemed a bit in shocked as well, confused as to why it’s human partner was not accepting it like all the other duos had with their partner.

 

“Junhong, your mark is on the back of your right shoulder blade.” Jongup stopped his conversation with the two dragon riders to inform his best friend about his mark.

 

“WHAT!? When was this?” Junhong was absolutely surprised by this new information. All his life Junhong believe he was a normal human being with the exception of being a thief.

 

“You mean you never knew?” Now Jongup was confused about his friend’s lack of knowledge about his own mark. Surely he was joking, society held marks to such a high value it was impossible for someone to not notice their mark… right?   
  


“No! Why didn't you tell me?” Junhong took off his shirt right then and there, looking over his left shoulder trying to get a good look at this so called mark. Just as Jongup said, there was a sky blue gear resting on the back of his left shoulder.

 

“I thought you knew.” Jongup felt bad for not bringing it up earlier, he thought Junhong knew and that was why he came along with him and Dadamato.

 

“Soooo…… do we match umm.... My so called dragon friend?” Junhong asked the sky blue masked dragon, making sure to show it his newly discovered mark.

 

**“Of course we match. I’m Totomato but you may call me Toto. What should I call you my so called human friend?”** The dragon replied giggling at Junhong as he struggled to put his shirt back on. 

 

“The name is Junhong.” He grinned at his new dragon friend. A strange warm feeling began to fill his body, he recognized it instantly, it was the feeling he got whenever he was with Granny, the feeling of family.

 

**“I’m surprised you didn't notice it sooner because we talked almost the whole way here.”** Dadamato stated killing the touching moment by bringing up Junhong’s lack of knowledge.

 

“Can normal people not understand dragons?” Growing up on the streets Junhong never learned about dragons or the mark. He just knew to avoid the Dragon Guard.

 

“What do you know about the mark and dragons?” One of the dragon riders entered the conversation. He introduced himself as Himchan if Junhong remembered correctly.

 

“Absolutely nothing…” It was the truth.

 

“How is that even possible?” Himchan was appalled by this kid’s lack of knowledge. How does one not know at least the basics. Even unmarked people know a thing or two about dragons. 

 

“Well Mr.Fancypants I’ll have you know not everyone goes to school.” Junhong was a little offended by Himchan’s response. The other scary looking dragon rider was doubled over laughing, already deciding he liked this new kid.

 

“Who you calling Mr.Fancypants!” Himchan was not about to be made fun of by this new kid, who didn’t even know he was marked.

 

The bickering continued until Hyosung came across them arguing and smacked all of them on the back of the head. Telling them it was getting late and they better get moving because they all had a early morning tomorrow. Himchan and Yongguk showed the duo where they would be staying for the time being. The room was a simple holding room for newcomers before they joined a training flock. Both Totomato and Dadamato stayed with their riders instead of going to the dragon resting area because  **“The first night is the most important.”** Himchan told them to keep it down and not tell anyone he allowed this impromptu sleepover.

 

The night was filled with personal stories from everyone, as the night continued Junhong felt comfortable with not only Totomato but Dadamato as well. He decided to take a leap of faith and made the two dragons swear not to tell anyone about what he was going to share with them. The dragons swore themselves to secrecy and Junhong began his story about the great thief Zelo. Jongup occasionally added a few details or told the dragons when Junhong was exaggerating, having already heard these stories a long time ago. The sun was already raising when they fell asleep; when Himchan and Yongguk tried their best wake them, they were met with grumpy children and angry dragon fire. The dragon riders were quick to retreat before any real damage could be done.

 

When Junhong re-entered dreamland, he was surrounded by pastel pastures and he soared through bright skies, but unlike previous dreams, he wasn’t alone anymore. Around him were his newly made friends and Junhong had never felt so complete before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I update every Saturday (Hopefully). Next week's chapter is Daehyun's. (lol I had this whole week to write it because I was head of my schedule but I just started today.)
> 
> Fun Fact: This was actually the 2nd chapter I wrote because I couldn't for the life of me write Himchan's chapter and I needed a break. Also out of everyone Junhong had the most thought out background story, while everyone else has a basic idea of what I want to happen. The reason this is not chapter 2 is because I already planned out the order of the members before hand. Plus I personally thought the flow would be better if Jongup's chapter came out before Junhong's. 
> 
> Thank you Michelle for editing this chapter and Jongup's chapter so fast. (I waited to giver her chapter 4 so I could let her edit the chapters in order. She edited them within 2 days!!! So amazing!!!)


	7. Extra Info! Dragon/Matoki Facts!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most of this info is just extra stuff to help understand the world a bit better but I do suggest reading the off colors section and the matoki facts.

I don't know if anyone is interested in this but here are some dragon facts and some stuff about the Matoki. 

 

**General Dragon Facts:**

  * 30% of dragons are marked and  70% of dragons are unmarked
  * Marked dragons will leave their clan/flock to find their human around their Juvenile stage.
  * Clans/Flocks can be 50 to ~500 dragons.
  * Smaller groups are called gangs/herds
  * Gangs are different types of dragons
  * Herds are all one type of dragon.
  * Clans are all one type of dragon breed.
  * Flocks are different types of dragon breeds.
  * Wild dragons are territorial and will defend their land from outsiders. Some are more violent than others.
  * Dragons and humans live separately with the exception of Marked duos.
  * It is very rare that an unmarked dragon will interact with humans because they can’t understand each other.
  * There are dragon hunters and there are human hunters.  
  * Clans/flocks have one single leader or a mated pair leading but bigger clans/flocks have multiple sub leaders.
  * There are 114 known dragon breeds. (I’m not going to make 114 dragons it’s just a number)



 

**Marked Dragons-** Dragons blessed with Harmoina’s mark.

**Wild Dragons-** Unmarked dragons who live in a clan/flock.

**Lone Dragon-** A Dragon who live on their own. Tends to stay away from everyone and are not violent unless threatened.

**Rogue Dragons-** A single dragon or gang of dragons who actively attack other dragons or humans. **  
**

 

**Off Color Dragons:**

 

  * **Albino dragons-** normal dragons but lack color in their scales/skin/fur/feathers. They get sunburnt easily. (ex. Cress)


  * ****Sui Generis-**** Dragons that have an abnormal color to them due to a rare magical occurrence. These dragons sometimes gain a unique power and are often outcasted or killed by other dragons because they are seen as a bad omen or a threat. (ex. Keke)


  * **Mutatio-** kinda of like a Sui Generis but the unique color/pattern is due to genetics and the color/pattern isn’t as noticeable. (ex. Joko)



 

**Matoki-** A rare breed of dragon. There is one Clan with about 97 in total. The Monarch (Monamato) is one of the most feared wild dragons. The flock it self is well hidden so not much is known about it. Matoki are one of the most powerful dragons. They are also one of the only gender-less breed of dragon that can change their reproductive organ to the one needed. They prefer the term 'It' because the Monarch wants to distance the Matoki from human related things (Monamato thinks the Matoki clan is far above the human race). 

  * Hatchlings: 2 ft, Juveniles: 13ft, Adults: 26 ft (Size is based off Toothless from HTTYD)
  * The main body color looks black but is actually a really dark gray, with a gray pattern. No two patterns are the same.
  * Matoki’s have mammal features but are still cold blooded reptiles
  * They are warm due to a chamber in their body that makes them able to shoot fire and regulates body temperature. 
  * They have a thin coat of fur covering their bodies, large ears, and a fluff ball at the end of their tail.
  * Each matoki earns a colored mask through a ritual type thing.
  * The shape/design of the mask is unique to that dragon but there can be multiple of the same color.
  * Eye/tongue/wing web/fire color matches the mask color.
  * Ear/tail Fluff also matches the mask color
  * Has 2 fire attacks. A flamethrower and a quick single shot.
  * Powerful claws to easily climb trees/rocky surfaces.



 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few dragon breeds thought up (about 10) but they only have names. Once I get around to creating them I'll make another update chapter for it. I just wanted to get this out because some of the info will be used in the next chapter.
> 
> Before I wrote anything I planned out the general world of this AU and I realized that you guys probably wont ever see the notes I made and some of them are kinda important to the story so I thought I would just add a bonus info chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Daehyun's Hidden Lagoon and the Outcast Kekemato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOOOO! Chapter 5 is here! Are you ready to finally meet Daehyun? Update coming next Saturday. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Please read the ending notes!

A loud bell chimed, signaling to the middle school children the day was over. They packed their supplies and rushed out of the classrooms in mobs, ignoring the teachers reminding them to do their homework and to be stay safe going home. Loud laughter could be heard as a group of children ran towards the beach, dropping their backpacks on the sand. One child, Daehyun, ran up to the lifeguard tower to greet his older brother before joining the other kids in a game of hide and seek. Daehyun always hid in the same winning spot: a small lagoon mostly covered by a ledge. It was far from the smooth sandy beach but most kids hid in the rocky area, so he never felt bad about it. Daehyun waited for the seeker to yell “ _ Olly olly oxen free! _ ” before jumping out of his clever hiding place and celebrating his win with the other children. 

 

When everyone was starting to get tuckered out from their various childish games they agreed it was time to head home, slowly parting ways when their street came up. Daehyun waved to his remaining friends as he walked up the pathway to his home. The boy’s mother greeted him as he walked through the door and he happily greeted her back before making his way towards his room. Daehyun contemplated doing his homework and even got it out, but simply looking at it pained him deeply.  _ I’ll get to it after I do a few things,  _ he thought. He walked around his room pushing a few things around - ‘cleaning’, he called it. Daehyun paused from his cleaning to open the window and enjoy the sound of waves crashing, soothing his soul. Finally Daehyun was ready to tackle his homework. He was finished by the time his mother called him down for dinner.

 

“How was school?” Ms. Jung asked her son. 

 

“It was good, I guess? Steve ate half a glue stick.” Daehyun giggled at the memory of another 13 year old shoving a purple glue stick into his mouth. It was the teacher’s first year teaching and she almost had a heart attack at the sight. She was quick to call the nurse, who shrugged and said it was non-toxic before leaving the classroom. 

 

“Dad is coming home tomorrow, right?” Daehyun and his mother were the only ones at the table. His older brother was staying at a friend’s house and his father left a few days ago on his fishing boat. The town Daehyun lived in, Hidden Seashore, was once a secret outpost for merchants but soon became famous for its seafood and pearl jewelry. Daehyun’s father was a fisherman and often left for a few weeks but always returned with a small fortune of fish and the occasional pearl or two.

 

“He should be returning tomorrow afternoon. Why?”

 

“He promised to take us to see the Major League Dracul Cup Finals! Don’t you remember? It’s the only thing anyone is talking about these days!” The Major League Dracul Cup - or MLDC - for short, was an olympic style competition for dragon riders. It had the typical racing and obstacle courses but it also had other sports like archery, tug-of-war, climbing, polo, rescue, and a lot of other various sports that could attract a crowd. Many people of all ages would attend this grand event and at the end of the competition there was an amazing firework show congratulating everyone who participated. 

 

Ms. Jung laughed at her son’s excitement; he had been talking nonstop about the MLDC Finals ever since his father came home with the tickets. The event was taking place at the Kingdom Silmul the upcoming Saturday. At first Ms. Jung was skeptical about Daehyun being able to skip school because it was a one day trip from this town to Silmul. Conversely, she underestimated the Competition. MLDC was treated like a national holiday and most places prepared for mass absences. The school being one of them as most of the teachers were attending and the few children who did show to school were simply put in one room and watched the event on a television. 

 

“Maybe one day you’ll be able to take part in the competition.” The woman got up and ruffled Daehyun’s hair before grabbing his empty plate and took it to the sink. “I’m sure you and your dragon will win.” She smiled to herself as she began to wash the dishes, pausing after a moment to look back a her son. “You’re going to make this family proud when you finally meet your powerful dragon.” Daehyun smiled back and headed upstairs to his room to get ready for bed, relaxing when his head touched the pillow.

 

Daehyun was the first member of their family to be born with Harmonia's blessed mark. At first his parents weren’t too serious about what dragon he would end up, they were just happy their son was marked, but as they became more aware of the dragons their expectations raised. What started off as joking soon turned into presumption. Daehyun never wanted anything from his dragon other than friendship yet the pressure from his parents made him feel uneasy about meeting his dragon.  _ What if my dragon can’t live up to my parents dreams? Maybe I shouldn’t meet them. What if my dragon doesn’t like my family? What if my family doesn't like my dragon?  _ These thoughts would often circle around in his head but he was quick to bury them under anything, mostly thoughts about food. Food always made things better. 

 

Daehyun opened his eyes, looking up at the dim fairy lights hanging from his ceiling; a girl from his class gave them to him as a birthday present. He wasn’t afraid of the dark,  but the soft blues and pinks always soothed his thoughts and brought him much needed peace. Slowly he drifted off to dreamland where he ran across the beach with a shadowy winged figure close behind him.

 

Morning had came too soon, and Mrs.Jung had to forcefully pull Daehyun out of bed and when that failed she threatened to deny him his breakfast. That had Daehyun running out of bed, quickly going through his morning routine so he could eat the wonderfully made breakfast. There was a knock on the door signaling his school friends arrival, and Daehyun shoved the last of his food into his mouth, waved his mother goodbye, and ran out the door to greet his friends. They walked to school slowly as their group grew in numbers as more children joined, chatting about everyday things. Daehyun excitedly talked about his father coming back and how he was going to the MLDC finals; a few other kids were going as well but the ones who had to stay pouted, demanding a play by play of each event when they returned to the town. When the last bell rang ending the school day Daehyun went straight home to greet his father but upon entering the house his mother informed him of his father's absence. It was strange his father wasn’t home yet. Mr. Jung always returned home sometime during the early afternoon. 

 

“Don’t worry Daehyun, he will be home by dinner. I’m sure of it.” Mrs. Jung tried to comfort her son but she too was worried about ther husband’s late arrival. In all the years they were married he had never returned late and it was wearing on her nerves.

 

“I’ll go see if he’s at the dock. Maybe something is keeping him!” Before his mother could say anything, Daehyun was already out the door racing towards the docks. When he neared the beach many of his friends waved him over, but Daehyun ignored them in favor of finding his father’s ship. The docks were mostly empty with only a few small family boats docked. A girl who followed him rested her hand on his shoulder telling him that his father probably caught more fish than usual so it was taking him longer to get home. It was reassuring enough. Daehyun smiled at her and joined his other friends in a few games of freeze tag, eyes shifting over to the ocean every so often hoping his father’s ship would appear. The sun started to set and most of his friends left the beach, the few who stayed tried to convince him to leave but Daehyun was to stubborn to leave until his mother came and dragged his ass back home, thanking his friends for staying with him so long. 

 

“Look, I know you’re worried, but I can’t have you staying out all night waiting for him. I’m sure he will be home tomorrow. He did promise to take us to the MLDC and your father always keeps his promises.” Mrs. Jung smiled at her son, sitting on the side of his bed, petting his hair. “You still have school tomorrow so get some rest. Goodnight, Daehyun.” His mother kissed his forehead, turned off his lights and headed to her own room to get some sleep herself. Daehyun honestly tried to sleep, but all the tossing and turning didn’t help one bit. Sleep was evading him that night. Something was keeping him awake, an uncomfortable pit swirled at the bottom of his stomach - it almost felt as if he was drowning. An unnatural force pulled him towards the beach. 

 

He got out of bed, listening carefully for his mother, when he couldn’t hear anything from her room, he quietly walked down the steps and grabbed the flashlight from the kitchen drawer. When Daehyun finally stepped outside he took a deep breath of fresh air before hurrying to the beach once more. The crashing waves did little to calm his nerves and looking around there was nothing there.  _ Why did I come here in the first place..?  _ Daehyun’s thoughts were interrupted when the uncomfortable feeling turned into a crushing fear,causing his adrenaline to spike, and suddenly he was hyper aware of his surroundings. A dragon crashed landed a couple yards away - obviously injured - and Daehyun jumped into action, running to the pink dragon.

 

“Hey! What? Are you… Um… Need help?” Daehyun wasn’t sure what to do with the hurt dragon but taking it home wasn’t an option when he heard the far off sounds of more dragons approaching. By the spike of fear in his gut, it was safe to assume they were the ones attacking this dragon. “Follow me! We have to hurry.” Daehyun pleaded with the dragon as he tried to help it back onto its feet. The dragon followed the boy on unsteady feet as he lead them over the rocky terrain, to a small, unnoticeable hole hidden between the surrounding rocks. It was a tight squeeze but the dragon managed to follow the boy through the hole to what looked like an underground pool of water. They both rested on a ground near the pool, trying to catch their breath, listening closely for any noise made by the attacking dragons. Daehyun felt like he was waiting for hours until silence fell once more.

 

“I think they're gone, but maybe we should wait for morning. Just to be safe.” The dragon nodded its head in agreement, shifting its body a bit to find a more comfortable position to rest. Daehyun took this time to examine the pink dragon; it had small cuts around its body but nothing life threatening, his eyes landed on a seashell white heart on the left side on its ribs. The little hamster in Daehyun’s head ran on its wheel until the realization donned upon him: They shared the same mark, and this adorable pink dragon was his. A huge grin formed on his face and he started to do a weird happy dance, the dragon watching with weary eyes. Daehyun looked at it then lifted his shirt to show it his mark. The creature was confused at first thinking this was a weird human ritual but when its eyes landed on his mark everything made sense.

 

**“You- you're my human. Who are you?”** The pink dragon spoke with a soft voice, watching Daehyun pull his shirt down.

 

“I’m Daehyun. What’s your name? Why were you being chased? Why are you pink?  What type of dragon are you? Do you want to come home with me? Where do you live?” Daehyun forced himself to stop asking questions when he noticed the overwhelmed look on his dragon. Maybe rapid fire questions would be better off being saved for a later time.

 

**“My name is Kekemato. I am Matoki Dragon. I don’t have a home, so I’m fine with staying with you.”** Kekemato paused, struggling internally for a bit, trying to decide if it wanted to tell his newly acquired human Daehyun the truth. **“I’m pink because when I was still an egg I was exposed to some kind of unknown magic, turning me pink and giving me the ability to shift colors. It’s also why I was being chased. Freak dragons like me aren’t allowed to live in the wild.”** Kekemato’s wavering voice was barely above a whisper but Daehyun heard everything perfectly clear, he didn’t know what to say - there was nothing he could say to make things better for his dragon.

 

“Why would something like that matter?” Daehyun was never an angry person but the thought of a dragon being killed because it was different from the rest really pissed him off.

 

**“Because dragons fear the unknown, especially if that unknown can bring them harm or threaten their loved ones. It’s better to eliminate the threat before it can become one.”** Kekemato could sense the frustration rolling off Daehyun’s body and for some reason it made the matoki happy. Never once in Kekemato’s whole life had someone cared for its wellbeing. 

 

“That’s so dumb” Daehyun tried to stay mad but the adrenalin wore off a while ago and left him exhausted. Instead of looking angry he looked more like a grumpy kitten, which was rather amusing to Kekemato.

 

**“That’s Life.”** It was such a simple statement. Kekemato had grown accustomed to a life of hiding behind its unnatural power of blending in with its surroundings. Most of the time Kekemato disguised itself as a normal black matoki with a gray wavy line pattern. Kekemato was even able to live within the Matoki Clan for safety, also gaining a mask of its own but it only took one mistake to expose its true pink form to the clan. Luckily Kekemato wasn’t killed on the spot but instead banished from the clan after it promised to never return.

 

Daehyun crawled towards Kekemato and rested his body against its uninjured shoulder.

 

“I don’t know how to make things better, but we’re a team now. I know we can get through anything if we stick together.” Daehyun was always optimistic when it came to tough situations and even if he wasn’t so sure about this one, he wasn’t going to let anyone harm his new friend. Kekemato smiled under its mask then wrapped a wing around Daehyun and rested its head in the boy’s lap. All the fleeing had made both of them tired, and soon enough both of them fell asleep to crashing waves with the occasional ship horn going off in the background. 

 

Daehyun woke up the next morning confused. He wasn’t in his bed and it wasn’t his mother waking him up but a pink dragon. The events of last night came flooding back to him, making him more aware of his surroundings. Daehyun looked at Kekemato with a questioning look. 

 

**“People are calling your name.”** The yelling had startled Kekemato out of slumber but the dragon calmed down when the yelling turned out to be Daehyun’s name. Daehyun took a few moments to listen for himself, and when he heard the yelling he recognized the voices instantly. 

 

“It’s Mom and Dad!” Daehyun wasted no time in getting up on sleepy limbs as he scrambled out of the hidden lagoon and quickly running towards his parents voices.

 

“Daehyun!” Mrs. Jung scooped her youngest son into her arms, holding him in a suffocating death hug of love only a mother could manage. Hearing his wife’s cry, Mr. Jung bolted to her location and joined the hug. 

 

“Daehyun you scared us half to death! What were you thinking coming out here all alone at night?!” Daehyun was unable to answer his parents due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs so he pointed towards the rocks he came from. Still holding onto their son both parents shifted their bodies to get a better look at what he was pointing at. To their surprise a black dragon with a white zipper mask appeared to be peaking slightly behind one, shyly hiding again when it was spotted by the duo. 

 

“Is… Is that..?” Mr.Jung was too shocked to speak. As they stopped embracing Daehyun he took in a deep breath, finally able to get ocean air into his lungs. 

 

“Yup! That’s my dragon, Kekemato!” Daehyun waved his dragon over to them. Slowly the now black, gray and white Kekemato walked towards the family, getting nervous with each step. If Daehyun liked Kekemato, surely his family would like the dragon as well. Daehyun was confused as to how Kekemato changed colors but then remembered last night’s conversation; he couldn’t help the sour feeling it gave him.  _ Now’s not the time for that. Family introductions first, then food. Yes definitely food next. I’m starving.  _ The thought of food made Daehyun’s mouth water, but he shook his head to vanquish the delicious thoughts and focused on the real task at hand. 

 

“Kekemato, these are my parents, mom and dad. Mom, dad, this is my dragon partner, Kekemato.” Daehyun introduced everyone to each other with unnecessary hand motions, gesturing between them.

 

“It’s nice to meet you Kekemato.”

 

“I hope my son wasn’t too much trouble for you.”

 

**“Daehyun what are they saying?”**

 

“What? Oh! They said they were happy to meet you!” It was easy to forget that normal people couldn’t understand dragons and vice versa.

 

**“Tell them… Hello?”** Kekemato didn’t know most human formalities but nothing could go wrong with a simple ‘hello’. The dragon hoped so anyways.

 

“Kekemato said hello.” Both of Daehyun’s parents chuckled at the dragon’s obvious shyness but the real questions still remained.

 

“What type of dragon is Kekemato? I’ve never seen a dragon like it before?”

 

“Is Kekemato a strong breed of dragon?” Daehyun felt uneasy with the questions. He never thought about any of those and honestly didn’t care. All he ever wanted was to meet his dragon - no, his other half. Not think about the stats of his dragon because those weren’t important to him and they shouldn’t matter. They don’t benefit or devalue his dragon and Daehyun was still going to love his dragon no matter what.

 

“Kekemato is just a Matoki dragon, which is just an average dragon. It’s not common in this area I guess. It shouldn’t matter if Keke is powerful or not. At the end of the day it is still my dragon, my partner, my friend and nothing is going to change that.” Daehyun was fed up with his parents. Kekemato gently nudged his hand with its head to comfort the upset child. Daehyun’s parents were shocked by their son’s outburst but understood his feelings, quickly apologizing over the guilty feeling about the demands they made over the years. They all made their way back to the Jung household and Daehyun excitly showed Kekemato his room, sharing stories about every little decoration or souvenir that caught the dragon’s eye. 

 

“Hey do you want to come with us to the MLDC finals?” Daehyun had asked his parents during dinner if they could bring Kekemato along, they happily agreed, saying that it could be a great learning experience watching pro dragon riders.

 

**“MLDC?”**

 

“The Major League Dracul Cup is this huge competition for dragon riders. Lots of people go to watch. I’ve only seen it on tv but this year we’re going to watch it at the actual stadium!”

 

**“It might be fun… I guess I could go.”** The thought of all the dragons attending the event spooked Kekemato but the way Daehyun’s eyes twinkled in excitement made the matoki want to go _. _

 

“Really!? This is going to so awesome!” If anything could make the MLDC any better for Daehyun it would definitely be his dragon coming with him.

 

**“When are we leaving?”**

 

“We’re leaving tomorrow, sightseeing on Friday, then the MLDC is on Saturday.” Daehyun had never traveled far from his town so going to Silmul was also a new experience for him. He had heard many things about the kingdom but what really caught his interest was all the different foods, he had been saving most of his allowance just to spend it all on food. 

 

**“Then we should get some rest. It’s going to be a long ride tomorrow.”** Daehyun pouted not really wanting to sleep, but Kekemato brought up a good point. The sooner they sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come. Daehyun turned off the lights and laid down on his bed, snuggling his face into the pillow. Kekemato joined him on the bed, curling its body around his. Neither of them could wait for Saturday.

 

The family was already on the road by the time Daehyun was fully awake. Kekemato rode on top of the family carriage, enjoying the breeze. Daehyun would occasionally pop his head out the window to talk to his partner until he decided that was too much of a hassle and climbed out the window to the roof, much to his mother’s horror. Daehyun being the ever adventurous child he was and out of sight of his parents, mounted the Matoki’s back just to see how it feels. Kekemato was tempted to take off but changed its mind, not wanting to hurt Daehyun before the event. 

 

The carriage stopped for a break, letting the horses rest and the family stretch their legs. Kekemato jumped off the roof forgetting Daehyun was even on its back. Surprisingly Daehyun was able to stay on. Taking this as a good sign Kekemato started to flap its wings and when no protest was made by Daehyun, lifted a few feet off the ground, nothing to serious but to Daehyun it was best absolutely perfect thing in the world. The longer they stayed in the air the more they grew in confidence, slowly ascending higher and flying faster. Daehyun’s father wore a proud smile, while his wife yelled at the duo to come down to start traveling. Daehyun begged his mother to let them fly next to the carriage, with a reluctant sigh his mother agreed, watching threw the window to make sure nothing neither of them got hurt.  

 

Daehyun only came back inside the carriage when they neared the kingdom to give Kekemato a break, promising once they got back home they would fly again. When the family arrived at the Inn, Daehyun was surprised that his parents trusted him to room alone, but his parents corrected him saying Kekemato was rooming with him and would hopefully keep their son out of trouble. During breakfast the next morning Mr.Jung asked his son if he would be fine on his own so he could chat with some business partners about the fish trade. Daehyun rapidly nodded his head, saying he already planned out a tour around the kingdom with Kekemato, plus they wanted to check out the Dragon Guard HQ. 

 

It was easy to spot the Dragon Guard HQ from the Inn’s rooftop, It was a large building in the middle of what looks like a huge field boxed in by a hexagon shaped wall. Getting there was another story, there wasn’t a street that lead straight to the building after making so many turns the duo ended up lost. They were about to give up and ask for directions when a raven haired boy walked up to them. “Hey, aren’t you a matoki?”

 

“No, I’m a human.” Daehyun knew for a fact he was a human, this guy must have been blind.  _ Wait… Oh! He’s talking about Kekemato. Well it’s too late now.  _ Daehyun couldn’t fix his mistake unless he wanted to look stupid.

 

“Not you.” The raven haired boy huffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

 

**“No, he’s a human.”** Kekemato decided to go along with Daehyun’s mistake, turning it into a joke but honestly this kid was creeping him out. Barely anyone knew matoki existed so this kid knew too much. They could probably ditch the body in the forest.

 

“Why is it so hard for you to answer a simple question?” The boy seemed genuinely irritated.

 

“Sorry, you’re going to have to take us for lunch if you want answers.” Daehyun is always down for free food.

 

**“I want cheesecake.”**

 

“ _ Ohhhh _ , dessert sounds good.” Daehyun couldn’t stop from licking his lips at the thought of delicious cheesecake, ignoring the boy in front of him to imagine all the cheesecakes he could be eating.

 

“What? No, I will not take you to lunch! I can see with my own eyes that your dragon is a matoki.” There goes the free lunch dream.

 

“Then why ask?”  _ Honestly, why do people ask questions they already know the answer to?  _ Daehyun just wanted to eat, and judging by Kekemato’s look, it wanted to eat just as much.

 

“To start a conversation?” The boy looked confused, as if he didn’t know why he even talked to the duo in the first place.

 

“Hey, do you know where the Dragon Guard HQ is?” Daehyun remembered why they were lost in the first place.  _ It never hurts to ask for help. _ If they had learned that earlier they probably wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

 

“You’re going to have to take me out to lunch first.” It looks like Daehyun’s joke came full circle. He blamed karma. What an asshole.

 

“Fine, but you’re paying for yourself.” Daehyun only agreed because he was hungry and lost.

 

“Fine. I know a place, follow me.” The duo followed the boy to a cozy looking restaurant, staring at the cute little decorations outside. A little bell rang when they entered, a lady greeted them and the trio made their way to a booth in the back corner. Already sitting there was a girl and two dragons. One of the dragons looked strikingly similar to Kekemato, looks like they don’t need to ditch the boy’s body in the forest. 

 

**“Is that a matoki?”** Daehyun assumed the Kekemato clone, as Daehyun was calling it, was the boy’s dragon because they both ask questions they already know the answer to.

 

**“No, I’m a human.”** Thank god for the original Kekemato, never letting a joke die.

 

“God damn it, stop with the human thing. I sware to the goddess Gaos.”

 

“Himchan, who are they?” The girl sitting at the booth looked highly amused as her friend’s misery. 

 

“...” The boy just introduced as Himchan seemed to be dying on the inside, maybe he should have remembered his manners better.

 

“I’m Daehyun, this is Kekemato. Nice to meet you m’lady.” Daehyun smiled and tipped his invisible fedora. The girl giggled at him and bowed her head slightly.

 

“My name is Sunhwa and this is Cress, she’s an albino solkalra.” Sunhwa gestured for the two boys to take a seat in the booth so they could order their food.

 

**“Soooo, who are you?”** Kekemato asked on Daehyun’s behalf, it already knew the other matoki. Tatsmato was well known in the clan for being one of the best flyers and also one of the monarch’s hatchlings. 

 

**“I’m shocked you don’t know. I’m Tatsmato.”** Wow, this dragon was full of itself, but it’s understandable, everyone in the clan did know him.

 

“Wait… Um… You tattooed your name onto your chest?” Daehyun tried his best to hold in his laugh but failed horribly, tears already pricking the corners of his eyes. Everyone joined in the laughter, much to Tatsmato’s demise.  

 

**“No! I was named after my markings, My mother was not very creative.”**

 

“I’m so sorry.” Daehyun has never felt so bad for another living creature before. After the laughter died down, they finally ordered their food and continued to banter about. Even tho they all just met, Daehyun felt as if they were already friends. Himchan took it as his personal goal to show the them around Silmul, making sure to stop at a lot of food stalls. Their last stop was the Dragon Guard HQ were Daehyun signed up for dragon rider training, he wouldn’t be able to start until he was at least 15 if he was lucky but it never hurts to sign up early. Himchan and Sunhwa dropped the duo at the Inn. Daehyun sat down with his parents for dinner, telling them about his amazing day, they smiled and asked to be introduced tomorrow at MLDC. Daehyun went to bed early that night, exhausted from the day’s activity.

 

The next day was a tornado of excitement, meeting up with Himchan and Sunhwa, then learning that Sunhwa was a princess and she let them sit in the best seats. During one of the races Daehyun got too excited, leaning over the railing so far he fell into the obstacle course, he thought his life was over but Kekemato was able to catch him time, but in their panic they flew through the obstacle course instead of simply flying up and out. The crowd cheered when they crossed the finish line in first place, as if they were one of the racers. The real first place winner let Daehyun keep the gold medal for getting through the difficult course. When Daehyun joined back with everyone else, he was lectured for a good 30 minutes and forbidden him from going near the railing. Himchan and Tatsmato teased him nonstop for the rest of the event. When it was all done and over, Daehyun was sad to leave but knew he’ll be back in a few years. Daehyun and Kekemato bid their new friends one final goodbye and left with Mr and Mrs Jung back home.

 

Two years passed before Daehyun and Kekemato returned to Silmul, after proving themselves as skilled flyers, the Dragon Guard council allowed Daehyun and Kekemato to start a year early. He was the youngest in his class, only being 15 years old but surprisingly he wasn’t not the only person with a matoki. The dude’s name was Bang Yongguk and his partner was Shishimato, who Himchan had written about a lot. Apparently the red masked matoki dragon caused quite the ruckus, always challenging the duo to pointless contests. After the first few weeks of training, Daehyun had befriended Yongguk, Shishimato and a blue masked matoki named Totomato. Shishimato had dragged Yongguk into its rively with Tatsmato, after their twelfth loss Yongguk asked Daehyun and Kekemato to help them train so they could finally knock Himchan off his high horse. Kekemato agreed the moment they asked, always down to mess with Tatsmato. The training was harsh, they were trying to turn years of training into weeks so they could make the deadline and it was totally worth the face Himchan made after the race.

 

It was during their final year of training when two new faces joined them - childhood friends from a long forgotten village, Jongup and Junhong. Totomato was ecstatic when his partner showed up. The day after they joined, Totomato dragged the new trio to their table in the cafeteria, introducing its new friends to everyone. No one at the table had seen the dragon this happy before and it was quite the sight to see. Neither boy had any experience with dragons so the first few weeks of training were unforgettable.

 

Daehyun had never thought about about his life before, he was a live in the moment kinda guy, but when he looked back, he realized that he had not only the best partner he could ask for but friends he’d never be able to replace. Nothing brought a brighter smile to his face then the new home he created with some strange dragons and some  stranger people. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! This was the first chapter I wrote over the course of a few days instead of one sitting. The ending may seem a little rushed. This is because of a last minute change I made to how I was going to release the chapters. At first it was going to be Daehyun’s chapter, A chapter dedicated to Yongguk, Himchan, Daehyun, Jongup, and Junhong finally teaming together. Then introduce Youngjae and ending his chapter with him joining them. This was because of the time line. Due to Youngjae’s origin I had him join the others much later so by the time he did join the rest, they would have already been friends for a while. BUT! I do promise to write more in depth chapters about their bonds forming! I honestly just want to get all the characters introduced so I can start writing about their friendships and possible romantic feeling (I don’t know if I’m skilled enough to write romance.) 
> 
> Here are their ages incase you’re wondering.
> 
> Yongguk- parents death/moved to sleepy peak 14. Dragon guard/met Himchan/Daehyun/ShiShi 16. Met Junhong/Jongup 19. Met Youngjae 20  
> Himchan- Met Tats 9. Met Daehyun 14. Met Yongguk 16. Met Junhong/Jongup 19. Met Youngjae 20  
> Daehyun- Met Keke/Himchan 13. Met yongguk 15. Met Jongup/Junhong 18. Met Youngjae 19  
> Yongjae- Met Joko 9. Met others at 18  
> Jongup- Met Junhong 12. Met Dada/dragon guard 16. Met Youngjae 17  
> Junhong- became Zelo 7. Met Granny/Jongup 12. Granny’s death/Dragon Guard/meets Toto 16. Met Youngjae 17


	9. Youngjae the Explorer and Jokomato the Pirate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youngjae meets Jokomato.

It was supposed to be a simple journey to visit some old friends; they had traveled that exact path hundreds of times in the past. Yet, the sole survivor stood backed against a tree as a rogue dragon approached ready to finish the job. Her beloved husband laid motionless on the dirt ground and the carriage holding her two most precious sons was almost completely smashed, bits and pieces thrown everywhere. She let out one final sob, praying for a swift death. She closed her eyes when the rogue stood in front of her, then nothing... All the pain was gone. The rogue dragon took to the skies, leaving behind the dead bodies for the Dragon Guard or scavengers to clean. 

 

A loud wail caught the attention of a passing wild dragon, curiosity bringing the dragon to the remains of what appeared to be a trip gone wrong. At a quick glimpse it looked as if the human carriage had crashed into a tree but a closer look revealed the dead bodies on the ground. The wailing grew louder and the dragon was quick to move the debris covering the horrid screaming. The crying stopped immediately as the baby looked up at the dragon in awe. The baby was mostly covered by a blanket and strapped into some sort of chair-doohickey. Another child laid only a few feet away but sadly he wasn’t as lucky, body crushed by the same rubble hiding the now soothed baby.

 

**“It’s okay little one. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”** The dragon knew it shouldn’t interfere with human problems but the baby looked so adorable with it’s big eyes, grabby hands and pouting lips. The dragon picked up the child carrier by the handle and started heading towards the nearest village, near the edge of Eternal Forest. The baby giggled and made strange gurgling noises the whole trip to the village, the dragon was highly amused by the sounds, cooing softly at the baby. 

 

When they made it to the village outskirts, they were quickly approached by a few Dragon Guard members and villagers. The dragon informed the dragonriders about the tragic fate of the baby’s family and offered to take them to the site. A woman villager came up to them, questioning the whereabouts of the baby’s family. the dragonriders relayed the information to the woman and she began to tear up, telling them that the baby was her friend’s son. The family was traveling to this village to visit her family. The riders asked if the now sobbing woman would look after the child while they investigated the attack and figure out what to do with the now orphaned baby. In an odd twist of fate, the baby ended up being taken in by the friend when no other family members stepped up to take the child. The woman raised the baby, Yoo Youngjae, alongside her own son, Im Jaebum. Both were blessed with Harmonia's mark, she knew they would grow to be amazing dragonriders.

 

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when a loud thump woke everyone in the house. Youngjae, now an energetic 10 year old, fell down the stairs. Well, there goes his stealthy escape. Before he could recover from the fall, Mrs.Im grabbed his ear and sat him down at the kitchen table, Jaebum joining him a few minutes later. 

 

“Where do you think you’re going so early in the morning on a school day? You know your teacher won’t let you skip anymore class time.” Mrs.Im crossed her arms and gave Youngjae a pointed glare before turning around to start on breakfast. 

 

Like any kid his age, Youngjae would rather ditch school to go on a “made up adventure” then spend his day sitting in class listening to a teacher drone on about stuff he already knew. Most of the time he would ‘drag’ Jaebum along with him on weekends. What Mrs.Im didn’t know was that their adventures weren’t so made up. Both Youngjae and Jaebum broke the rule to never go into the Eternal Forest. 

 

The forest itself had many legends and myths, that scared most from going in but the main reason now was for the increase of rogue dragon activity. Neither boy thought about what would happen if they ran into a rogue and the old ruins deep inside the forest held too many wonders to care about the consequences. Everyone assumed the boys were playing pretend when they told tales of their adventures but in reality they were actually running around the forest, mapping out the area, climbing around the abandoned ruins, and looking for anything of interest. Youngjae has spent countless days just sitting in the rubble of abandoned buildings reading any old book left intact. When he wasn’t reading then he was sparring against Jaebum with dull, rusted weapons, the score was 9-15, Youngjae cursed Jaebum for his slightly stronger build and natural battle instincts. 

 

“I was going to school early, to make up a test I missed.” Youngjae quickly replied, hoping she would fall for his lies. Sadly, Mrs.Im caught his lie the moment the words left his mouth. Youngjae may ditch school on a regular basis but she knew he would never miss a test. It was strange, when she was his age, she and her friends would ditch as well, but the difference was that they didn’t care for school. They never did any homework, skipped tests and talked back to the teacher any chance they got. It wasn’t until a few of her friends got held back and she was treated with expulsion did she finally shape up. Youngjae on the other hand, finished all his homework, made sure to never miss a test, studied every other night and was well behaved in class. The only complaint she ever received from the teachers were about his absences. Other than that he was well praised for being a bright and intelligent boy.

 

The two boys wolfed down their breakfast and playfully shoved each other out the door with Mrs.Im following close behind. She liked to believe that Youngjae would have went to school himself or Jaebum would make him stay with him but she had to run errands later in the day so there was no harm in walking them to school to make sure Youngjae didn't run off. She dropped them off by the front of the school and they bid her goodbye as they ran off inside the building. 

 

“Sooo, do I really have stay or can I leave out the back doors?” Youngjae let out a yawn, already bored of school.  _ Maybe I could take a nap later.  _ Youngjae was already planning out a nap schedule when Jaebum put his two cents in. 

 

“It’s Friday, so you might as well stay. Plus if mom hears you didn’t show today, she’ll probably freak and ground you again. You wouldn’t want to be trapped inside on the weekend.” There had been multiple weekends wasted inside due to being grounded. Youngjae shuddered at the thought and Jaebum laughed at his friend’s miserable look. 

 

“True that.” Their conversation was cut short when the principal appeared out of nowhere, as if he emerged out of the shadows like some sort of demon.

 

“Hello boys. Ah, Youngjae. It’s so nice of you to show up for once.” His tone was ice cold and his eyes pierced their core. There were many rumors about the principal not being human, but Youngjae never believed any of them, but still made sure to steer clear from the shady man’s path. With rushed greetings both boys bolted to their classroom, only slowing down when they reached the door. The teacher gave them a knowing look and chuckled at their childish fear. There was still 15 minutes before class started, so when Youngjae took his seat, a boy in their class asked him for last night’s homework. Youngjae tried his best not to roll his eyes but failed. 

 

“If you want to copy my homework then you’re going to have to pay me.” Jaebum couldn’t hold his laugh as their classmate pouted and stomped off to bother another kid.

 

After the third bell rang, the teacher closed the door and started day. By the time lunch rolled around, Youngjae had already napped through most of the lesson plan, only waking up when Jaebum dropped Youngjae’s lunch box onto his table. Youngjae quietly ate his lunch as he copied Jaebum’s notes. When lunch was over and the second half of the day started, Youngjae took notes while Jaebum took his nap. This was how they worked: one would nap and the other would pay attention, then when lunch came they would switch off. Youngjae let out a groan as he stretched his back, taking a moment to enjoy the peace of an empty classroom before kicking Jaebum’s chair repeatedly, not stopping until the other boy forcefully grabbed his foot and held it in place. The teacher sighed at the boys, glaring at them as she asked them if they were going to leave anytime soon, she had places to go, things to do. They gave her sheepish grins and excused themselves from the classroom.

 

“Was she always that grumpy?” Youngjae wondered out loud, looking up at the sky, watching dragonriders fly about. The Dragon Guard has been building an outpost in their village for the past week. Winter Bell was one of the older villages, rumored to have been one of the only villages that survived the war. Why they were building an outpost all the way out here was beyond Youngjae, but it did make things easier for the village. He had overheard some people talk about an increase of dragons in the forest and something about a few small villages popping out the ground but he honestly tuned out all the boring adult gossip.

 

Jaebum made a sound of acknowledgement but made no attempt to answer the question, too distracted by the dragons flying around. “That’s going to be us someday.” Jaebum whispered in amazement. 

 

“We’re going to be the best dragonriders out there.” Youngjae couldn’t help but grin to himself. One day he was going to find his dragon and together they would discover all the wonders of their world, leaving no stone unturned. With the sudden rush of excitement, Youngjae challenged his friend to a race, last one home would have to wash the dishes after dinner. Youngjae just barely made it through the door before Jaebum, who complained about his unfair head start. Setting their school bags aside, the boys started their homework and planned what to have for dinner.

 

Mrs.Im returned to a home smelling like freshly baked chicken and two bickering boys. She couldn’t help but smile as she was lead to the recently set up table, dinner already prepared to be eaten. It was a simple meal of baked chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. The boys happily rambled on about their boring day at school and their adventure plans for tomorrow. Mrs.Im smiled at their vast imagination and told them to not stay out too late. Even after the naps taken earlier in the day, both boys found themselves falling asleep with relative ease. They would have to wake up early tomorrow if they wanted to do everything they planned. 

 

Youngjae woke up before the sun and walked into Jaebum’s room to find him already preparing for the trip to the newly found ruins. These ruins were located deeper in the forest and Youngjae was hoping to find new ancient books or maybe a neat souvenir to add to his hidden collection. With backpacks filled with supplies the boys raced towards the forest, watching out for anyone who would spot them. They took a break to catch their breath when they were far enough into the forest to not be seen. The Eternal Forest was a dense, lush forest with a whimsical mystic atmosphere. During the mornings the ground was covered by a foggy mist created from the many waterfalls and rivers within the forest. It was also home to many lone dragons and the occasional unwelcome rogue. The name came from an old tale about a woman who would drank the magical water in a pound located at the center of the forest. She was granted eternal youth and this made a lot of people search the forest for this pound of youth, but no one was able to find it. Even though the story was a hoax, the name stuck. 

 

It was a long hike to the ruins but it was worth the travel, with new discoveries awaiting the boys at the ruins. Their first stop was a mostly crumbled building, as the looked around the remains they heard something coming near them. Neither boy were too worried about the approaching noise, it wouldn't be the first time they ran into a lone dragon, most were friendly enough and would just ignore the boys. Except this time it wasn't a lone dragon, Jaebum was flung across the building remains. Youngjae didn't know what to do as he stared at the rogue with wide eyes. Panicking Youngjae grabbed a rock and threw it at the dragon’s eye, blinding the winged beast long enough for him to run in the direction Jaebum landed, he helped the injured boy to his feet and they stumbled as fast as they could away from the rogue dragon.

 

“What are we going to do? We can’t fight a dragon, Youngjae!” Youngjae chewed on his lip as he thought of a plan. The only thing they could do was run and hope the dragon would give up. That plan was dashed when the attacking dragon easily flew over their heads and landed in front of them, blocking their path. Youngjae pushed Jaebum behind him, it was a useless attempted to protect his friend from harm but it was all that he could do. The rogue began to charge at the boys, but the goddesses must have heard their prayers. A black blur tackled the rogue to the ground and had the dragon’s neck in between its jaws, crushing them in a single chomp.

 

_ Mother nature is a scary thing. _ Youngjae thought as he watched the black dragon approach them. The dragon was mostly black but had yellow ear tufts, tail poof, and wing Web. It also had a white jester collar pattern around its neck and a white mask pattern around its yellow eyes. It wore a yellow mask with a black clown nose on it. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact this dragon just killed another dragon in front of his eyes, Youngjae would have thought this dragon was some sort of party clown. 

 

**“What, cat got your tongue? Are you just going to stand there and stare or are you going to say something? Maybe a thank you.”** The dragon spoke with an amused tone even though it literally killed another dragon a few minutes ago.

 

“Thanks for killing a dragon in front of me. I hope you're going to pay for the consulting I'm going to need after this traumatic experience.” What was Youngjae supposed to say in this situation? It’s not like he had time to prepare for such an event. 

 

**“Ehh, you'll be fine… I think. Who knows? You could turn into a complete psycho!”** The dragon’s golden eyes sparked with a new found emotion that Youngjae assumed was some form of joy or delight. Maybe this dragon was the real psycho here. 

 

“That might be a problem. I don't think that would look good on my resume.” This conversation was getting weirder and weirder.

 

“That's what you're worried about right now?” Youngjae jumped and wiped his head to the side looking back at Jaebum, who he forgot was behind him. Jaebum looked just as confused as Youngjae.

 

“I have to think about my future, Jaebum. It's pretty important for my survival.” Youngjae had a good point but now was not the time for that. The dragon started to get bored of their bickering and interrupted the children before things got out of hand. 

 

**“Let's get to the point of why I helped you. I assume you have this same mark.”** The dragon shifted its body to show off the golden yellow dollar sign on its outer right thigh. Youngjae instantly recognized the mark, for it was the same exact mark he had.

 

“You're my dragon partner! Holy shit, my dragon is a murderer… Are there dragon police officers we have to worry about?” Youngjae’s excitement was dashed when the thought was being chased by dragons in police uniforms crossed his mind. He didn’t know much about how dragon civilization worked but there had to be some sort of unspoken rules about killing. 

 

**“No. Most dragons don't care about killing others unless it's a member of their flock or clan. You know mother nature and stuff. This dragon was a rogue so no one will even notice they're gone.”**

 

“That's... kind of sad.”

 

“Sorry to interrupt, but my leg hurts and it's starting to get late.” Jaebum was ready to go home and take a nap.

 

“Oh shit, sorry Jaebum. Hey do you think you can give us a lift home… My dude?”

 

**“Jokomato, and only if I get a free meal. Oh, and a cozy bed. Also a tiny hat.”**

 

“Sheesh, do you also want me to tuck you in and read you a bedtime story? Why do you even need a hat?”  

 

**“I'm not a child and I'll have you know I've always wanted a** ** _tiny_** **hat… For science purposes.”** If it wasn’t for the obvious pause, Youngjae would have believed the dragon. Youngjae quickly introduced Jokomato to Jaebum and soon both boys found themselves flying above the treetops, wind flowing through their hair and a breathtaking view of the horizon. Today was just the beginning of their journey, that ended when they entered the house and Mrs.Im grounded all three of them.

 

Over the years, Youngjae’s library of ancient texts, he kept in Jokomato’s cave, grew in size. The book collection started as a few shelves but know took up about two bookcases, with souvenirs of their adventures acting as dividers and bookends. Youngjae also learned a lot about his partner, like its treasure hoarding problem or the fact Jokomato knew little to nothing about its species other than the stuff other dragons told it. 

 

Jokomato had been born a lone dragon from a single parent who left after giving Jokomato its yellow mask. Youngjae believed Jokomato wasn't bothered by the lack of matoki knowledge, as the dragon seemed content with its laidback lifestyle, but as they grew closer, he realized Jokomato was playing down its curiosity to hide its need to discover something more about itself, for someone to finally answer all its questions and to experience what it was like to be around its own kind. The reason Jokomato started to travel around was to hopefully find other matoki, but other than its single parent, Jokomato had never met another of its species. Giving up on the search for other matoki, Jokomato settled down in the Eternal Forest when glittering gold coins caught its eye and turning the dragon into a treasure hunter or pirate as Yongjae liked to joke. Together the boys and matoki explored every nook and cranny the Eternal Forest had to offer, but all good things come to an end at some point. 

 

When the boys turned 16, Jaebum was told by the Dragon Guard his dragon had joined them in hopes to finding her partner. Youngjae was torn between following his friend or exploring new areas, the decision came down to Jokomato’s disinterest in join the Guard. When Youngjae asked for the reason, Jokomato dismissed the question with a shrug and a simple  **“I never thought about it. Plus I rather like my freedom.”** Jaebum was a little hurt by their decision, but respected their choice and promised to visit them whenever he could. The boys parted ways and Youngjae realized that nothing was anchoring him to the village. Sure, he loved Mrs.Im like a mother but he wanted to find his own purpose in life. At first, Mrs.Im was hesitant to let Youngjae go off on his own but she trusted him to make his own decisions and if this was what he wanted, she would support him. Overtime Youngjae moves all his things into Jokomato’s cave, even his mattress, because there was no way in hell he was going to sleep on the floor. Jokomato was happy with the new additions to the cave, they complemented Jokomato’s piles of treasure and made the place more homey. Living together made it easier to go on spontaneous adventures, since Youngjae already had everything he needed packed and didn't have to wait to tell someone he was leaving.

 

Eight years had passed in a blink of an eye. Youngjae was technically an adult but most of the world still treated him like a know it all teenager, which wasn’t entirely false. It had its benefits, like discounts on food and other things. It was during one of the many voyages to other forests, when life dedicated it needed a change. A small gang of rogue dragons started to chase the duo but with quick thinking Youngjae and Jokomato were able to easily defeat most of the rogues and simply out flying the rest. It wasn’t anything new to them, both getting into fights over the years. The difference this time was an unnoticed onlooker. She smirked, deciding to follow the boy and matoki, what she had planned for the two was a mystery that only time could tell.

 

The duo stopped at a nearby town to restock on a few necessities before they headed back to the Eternal Forest. Jokomato kept shifting his eyes to look around, curious, Youngjae asked Joko what it was looking for but the matoki just said  **“It’s not what it’s who.”** Jokomato had the weird feeling of being watched but it seemed no one around them would even give them a second glance let alone stare, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. It wasn't until they were about to take off when the presence finally emerged from the faceless crowd. It was a slightly older woman and her dragon, by the uniform she was wearing it was obvious they were a part of the Dragon Guard but that made the duo even more confused.  _ Why would someone from the Dragon Guard be looking for us?  _ Youngjae tried to think of a reason but nothing came to mind.

 

“I saw you take on those rogues earlier.” Youngjae waited for her to continue but the lady just stood there with her hands on her hips, striking some sort of superhero pose. Her dragon looked back and forth between Youngjae and her partner, sighing when it seemed her partner didn't catch onto the boy’s confusion.

 

**“We wanted to know if you wanted to join the Dragon Guard or at least know why you never showed up or register for basics.”** It wasn’t uncommon for marked pairs to not become dragonriders but most at least registered their info and took basic flight classes. The woman knew for a fact that these two never even registered, she would have remembered a matoki joining, they were rare dragons and she could count the all the marked members on a single hand.

 

**“We just don't feel like joining and as you saw we don’t really need lessons on how to survive in the wild.”** Jokomato signaled Youngjae to hop on so they could leave, not wanting to waste daylight by talking to recruiters. Youngjae got on to Jokomato’s back and the two took off without a goodbye. They were surprised when the Woman and dragon followed them.

 

“Hey, I’m Hana and this is Holly. It’s nice to meet you!”  _ This woman must really want us to join.  _ Youngjae didn’t care about her being president but Jokomato was starting to get grumpy, probably due to the lack of treasure found at the old ruins. It really put the dragon into a mood.   

 

“How did you know we never showed up to the Dragon Guard. Are you a creepy stalker?” Youngjae really wanted to know, it had been bothering him since she asked them about it. Most dragonriders assumed they already passed their basic flying test and just treated them as if they were normal marked non-dragonriders. Why had this woman noticed when all the others didn’t, the thought bugged Youngjae for some reason.

 

“I help train most of the newbies. I would have remembered a yellow matoki and his adorable partner.”

 

“Why do you want us to join?”

 

“We could always use more dragonriders.”

 

**“We’re not interested. Goodbye”** Youngjae snorted at his dragon’s blunt answer but it was the simplest way to get the woman to leave. If Youngjae was honest with himself, he would have considered her offer. There had always been a huge ‘What If’ floating around his head since Jaebum left. There weren't any negative consequences in joining the Dragon Guard and he would be able to see Jaebum again. The only possible downside he could think of was having to cut down on their adventures, no that wasn’t right. It would be more like going on a different type of adventure, instead of exploring it would be a quest. Even if Youngjae voiced his opinion on joining the Guard, he felt like Jokomato would only agree to make Youngjae happy. He just needed a good enough reason that would benefit his dragon’s wants and his own.  

 

“Aw, come on, don’t knock it until you try it. Plus I’m sure the other matoki would be thrilled to have another member.” Youngjae and Jokomato almost snapped their necks then the word ‘matoki’ left Hana’s lips. Their eyes widening in shock, why hadn’t the thought of other marked matoki cross their minds.

 

**“Other Matoki?”** Jokomato was too surprised by the revelation to think straight. Youngjae smiled knowing things were about to change for them. Jokomato would never pass on the opportunity to meet other matoki, it had been the matoki’s dream to finally learn about its kind, to find that missing puzzle piece in its life. 

 

“Yeah there are 5 of them. Are you interested?” Hana gave them a knowing smirk, she would have started with that if she knew that was all it would take to convince the duo to join. She mentally patted herself on the shoulder for a job well done. The four of them organized a plan to get Youngjae and Jokomato to the Dragon Guard HQ as soon as possible. Hana was surprised how easily the two dropped everything to pursue this new ‘adventure’ even the most willing people took a few days before making the journey but she guessed it was due to their spontaneous nature that they took it all in stride. When they made it back to the Eternal Forest, Youngjae packed enough to last him while and said they could get the rest later. With a good night’s sleep and a goodbye to Mrs.Im, Youngjae, Jokomato, Hana and Holly flew off the kingdom Silmul.

 

What Hana didn’t inform the duo about her evil catch. When they arrived to the HQ, Jokomato and Youngjae were excitedly waiting to meet the other riders but Hana told them they had left for an important mission and wouldn't be back for a while. In that time she expected the duo to pass the dragonrider exam.

 

“All the other matoki members were already graduated riders, so if they wanted to join them, you two will also have to graduate and ask to join their herd.” She explained.

 

“Doesn’t it take years of training to become a dragonrider?” Youngjae remembered Jaebum saying it took him three years to graduate in his letter.

 

“I pulled some strings and told the console you were my underling for a few years now.” Hana was the real MVP of this whole journey.

 

**“So now all we have to do is pass the exam? Seems easy enough.”**

 

“Yeah, but it’s not that simple. There are 4 parts to the test: A writing portion, an obstacle course, a real life battle simulator, and a rescue mission. So you have to study hard and practice. I know you two can do it! Fighting!” 

 

“That’s a lot to learn. How long do we have?” Youngjae was a quick learner but even he needed a decent about of time to learned everything they needed to pass.

 

“3 weeks!”

 

“Looks like we have all the time in the world.” Youngjae joked, looking at Jokomato, who nodded back at him. Hana showed Youngjae to his temporary room, it was small and he had a roommate named, BamBam. Hana came back later that night to drop off all the material Youngjae needed for the exam. Jokomato snuck in through the window, wanting to stay with Youngjae and not a bunch of strangers.

 

“Wow, that’s a lot of reading. Also our partners have to sleep with the other dragons. I don’t know why but it’s a rule.” From the few hours Youngjae got to know Bambam, he learned that the kid was a ball of hyper sunshine and dick jokes.

 

“Are you going to tell anyone?” Youngjae raised his eyebrow at the younger boy, a silent question of friend or foe. BamBam shrugged his shoulders and pouted at Youngjae for the cold look.  “I won’t tell anyone, if you let me bring my dragon.” 

 

“Fine by me.” Youngjae turned back to the book he was reading, hand resting on Jokomato’s sleeping head.

 

“Why are you even reading so much?”

 

“I’m taking the exam in 3 weeks.”

 

“Why so late? Shouldn’t you have passed by now? Did you fail?” BamBam was surprised most people Youngjae’s age already graduated,  _ maybe he started late… _ That would explain why BamBam hadn’t seen the boy around, until his sudden appearance in his room.

 

“Nah, I was just studying under Hana and I stuck around for a few extra years because fuck you, I do what I want.” BamBam couldn’t help but burst out laughing, not expecting that sort of reply. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and left the room to get his partner. The next day BamBam dragged Youngjae from his studying to meet his friends. Youngjae didn’t expect to be caught in a headlock by his best friend Jaebum, who had been blessed by the puberty gods, if anyone asked Youngjae.

 

“You piece of shit, why are you here!?” 

 

“I joined the kiddie patrol. I thought it might help me get the chicks.” Both boys burst into laughter as they playfully hit each other like old times. 

 

“Seriously why are you here? Did you really join?” Jaebum thought Youngjae and Jokomato would never join the Guard but here his friend was, standing right beside him. It felt like a weird dream.

 

“Yeah, I would have been here sooner but I was  _ Training _ under Hana and Holly. I take the exam in 3 weeks.” Youngjae gave Jaebum a look and his friend got the message loud and clear. Jaebum snorted and demanded for details later. 

 

“You need help cramming?” 

 

“That would be greatly appreciated.” Youngjae was so happy he had a friend who already graduated, this would make things so much easier.

 

“We can help too!!!” A guy yelled, jumping right into their conversation. Youngjae had forgotten about the other people when Jaebum ‘tried to kill’ him. Introductions were quickly exchanged. Jaebum proudly stated he was the leader of his own gang, which consisted of: Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae and soon BamBam and Yugyeom, when they graduated. Youngjae was happy for his friend but told the other Youngjae “only one can live” which made the younger boy quiver behind Jaebum, who smacked his childhood friend upside the head. Youngjae spent the rest of the day getting to know the Got7 gang and their dragons, Youngjae laughed for a solid 5 minutes when he heard the name, which earned him another smack upside the head. It wasn’t until later in the night when Youngjae was finally able to get Jaebum alone long enough to tell him everything.

 

‘Wow, it looks like you’ve been busy.”

 

“Yeah, it’s crazy I never thought I would join the Dragon Guard but here I am.”

 

“It’s nice to have you here.”

 

“What a sap.” Youngjae punched Jaebum in the shoulder. “Hey, do you know anything about the Matoki herd?”

 

“Not much, they mostly work around the southeast area. Plus I never really had a reason to talk to them before.”

 

“So… What do you know?” Youngjae was dying of curiosity and nervousness.

 

“I’m not telling.” Jaebum gave him a cat like grin, eyes lighting up in cruel delight.

 

“What! Why not?” Youngjae started shaking Jaebum by the shoulders. This wasn’t a time for games.

 

“To be petty I guess?”

 

“Fuck you… You’re lucky I love you.” Youngjae couldn’t fight against that logic, pettiness and spite were the main reasons he did things most if the time.

 

“Love you to bro.” It was nice to have his childhood friend close to him again.

 

Youngjae Studied everyday for the written portion of the exam, and Jaebum was able to get a few solo timeslots for the different courses he would need to run for the other parts of the exam. Hana checked in every once in a while, also giving helpful advice and pep talks when needed. With Got7 and Hana’s joint effort, Youngjae and Jokomato were more than prepared when the three weeks were over. The duo glided through the obstacle course, saved all the pedestrians, won each sparring match and Youngjae got a perfect score on the writing part. A small celebration was thrown for the newly graduated pair by Hana and Got7. The night was filled with dancing and laughter. When Youngjae woke up the next morning, he dragged Jokomato with him to search for Hana, he wanted to know when the matoki herd would be returning. Jokomato was able to find her with relative ease once it finally woke up.

 

“Just the two, I was looking for.” Hana smiled at the approaching duo, striking her signature super hero pose. “There had been a change of plans. We are going to meet up with the matoki herd. Apparently there were some troublesome rogues and the two freshly graduated members were injured, nothing serious but they did request back up.” Hana pulled Youngjae by the arm to the supply rooms to show him where everything was. They packed all the needed supplies for the journey and saddled up their dragons, by noon they were up in the air flying towards their destination. Youngjae would being lying if he said he wasn't nervous but at the same time he was excited. This was their first real mission, he could tell Jokomato was just as thrilled as he was.

 

“Okay, we’re nearing the landmark, they should be somewhere north of it. We’re going land and travel by foot to make sure we don’t miss them.” Youngjae and Jokomato nodded their head and followed the more experience duo to the small forest clearing. 

 

“Lets split up a bit to cover more land. Stay within yelling distance. Got it?”

 

“Yes ma’am” Youngjae playfully saluted at her and they parted ways, heading up north towards the mountain side. 

 

There was an odd peaceful atmosphere surrounding them as they hiked through the forest. If Youngjae didn’t know any better, he would of assumed this was more of a nature walk then a mission. The peace was disturbed when the bushes started to rustle, Youngjae swallowed the lump in his throat and waited for something to happen. A deer appeared between the trees, causing the duo to relax a little.

 

“Why do I feel like I’m in a story?” Youngjae let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders in circles, releasing the tension in them.

 

**“Because that was the most over used trope in the book. Kill the suspense with a cute anim-.”** Jokomato was interrupted when a dragon jumped towards the unsuspecting dragon. With practiced ease, Jokomato dodged and attacked the rogue with a counter attack. Four other rogues emerged from hiding, to help the already downed rogues. Between the two of them, they made quick work of the rogues, most of them unable to fight back or escape. Youngjae was tying them up, when suddenly a black dragon burst through the trees only to stop in its tracks when it noticed the battle was over.

 

**“Did you really have to take them out all on your own?”** This dragon looked similar to Jokomato, so it was safe to assume it was one of the matoki dragons.

 

**“Sorry, you missed the party, maybe next time you’ll be on time.”** Jokomato looked at the red masked matoki, silently analyzing it.

 

**“Wait… You’re a Matoki!”** The red matoki looked shocked by the way its eyes widened and started to blink rapidly.

 

**“And you’re not blind, what a relief.”** Jokomato retorted. Hana must have not informed them about their arrival. This was a bit awkward.

**“That’s not what I meant. What are you doing out here.”**

 

“We came with Hana to help out.” Youngjae answered as he tied up the rogues so they couldn’t escape before the dragonriders came.

 

**“When did you two join? I would have remembered a new matoki arriving.”** Still bewildered, the red matoki continued to stare at the yellow matoki.

 

**“We graduated yesterday.”** Jokomato wanted ask some questions as well, but the red matoki kept interrupting. Youngjae on the other hand was trying to start a fire, he could have ask one of the dragons but they seemed to focused on each other to notice him struggling.

 

**“Yesterday!? Isn’t that a bit early for a newbie to go on a mission like this?”** Jokomato and Youngjae couldn’t tell if the red matoki was mad or surprised, it sounded like a mixture of both. 

 

**“I don’t know if you noticed but we handled ourselves just fine. This isn’t our first time dealing with rogues.”** Jokomato was a little offended that the other dragon thought so little of the duo. Sure they were ‘new’ but they did take out five rogues by themselves.

 

“Kay, I’m finished. Are you two done with your tea party? I think the dragon riders will be here soon to pick up the rogues.” Youngjae interrupted the two dragons with a pout, he was left to do all the work, tying up the rogues and starting a fire to signal the outpost to pick up the rogues. Before he could say anymore, Hana, Holly and a few other black dragons rushed towards them.

 

“What happened?” Hana asked.

“Why did you run before us?” Some guy putting the red matoki in a headlock asked. 

“Who are they?” A baby faced kid asked.

“Are they okay?” An older looking dude asked.

 

Youngjae was starting to develop a headache from all the yelling and questions being thrown around. Was this how they normally acted, like a bunch of screaming children trying to get attention. Youngjae sat down next to Jokomato, as they watched the chaos unfold. He didn’t notice the boy with his arm in a makeshift sling, sit next to him until he felt his uninjured hand on his shoulder. Youngjae jumped in surprise but calmed down when he saw the other’s smile.

 

“Hey, I’m Youngjae, this is Jokomato.”

 

“Jongup,” he pointed at the green masked matoki, “that’s Dadamato.” As if hearing its partner, Dadamato looked at them before trotting up to them. 

 

**“Who’s this?”**

 

“This is Youngjae and Jokomato.” 

 

“Nice to meet you.” Youngjae bowed his head a little, the tire tracks going across the dragon’s body made it look like roadkill in his personal opinion.  

 

**“Likewise… Is Jokomato sleeping?”** Youngjae looked at his partner and sure enough, Jokomato was sleeping like it was dead to the world.

 

“Yeah, that’s what Joko is good at. I’m pretty sure it could sleep through the apocalypse.” Youngjae snorted and jabbed his elbow into the sleeping dragon, who jolted awake and looked around sleepy.

 

**“What was that for?”**

 

“Don’t you want to meet the others? This is Jongup and Dadamato.” Jokomato just nodded at them and they nodded back. All four of them sat in silence as they watched the chaos play out in front of them. Jongup was nice enough to tell the new duo who was who. Yongguk, the leader was currently wrestling his dragon Shishimato, Junhong and his dragon Totomato were trying to calm him down, Himchan was lecturing the two fighting while his partner Tatsmato judged them silently, Lastly Daehyun was laughing and cheering them on. Youngjae was surprised to see Daehyun’s dragon staring at them with an unreadable expression, Jongup told them the dragon was really cautious when it came to new people.

 

“Honestly! All of you are childish!” Hana yelled above everyone making them stop all movement. The dragonriders finally came to pick up the rogue dragons and Hana said she would handle the report later. She started to lecture the matoki herd excluding Jongup, all of them looked at the ground in shame. Once she was done, she looked at Youngjae and told him they were leaving before them. Youngjae was hesitant to leave but followed Hana after she told him to keep up. Jongup promised to meet up at the outpost when they were finished. 

 

It was nearing dinner time, when Youngjae finally saw Jongup and Dadamato again. The duo happily sat down at his table to enjoy their meal together. What Youngjae didn't expect, was the other members barreling into the table, fighting over seats and food. Jongup cleared his throat and the others seemed to quiet down, he gestured to Youngjae and slowly proper introductions were exchanged. Youngjae and Jokomato were welcomed by the other members and they got along with him just as quick as Got7 did. Youngjae never expected to join the Dragon Guard, let alone join a herd, but here he was sitting in between a bickering Himchan and Yongguk, defending his food from Daehyun and watching Junhong and Jongup dance to a silent beat. Youngjae thought there was nothing better than discovering ruins and finding treasure but these past weeks had proved him wrong. Now Youngjae looked forward to adventuring with his new companions, together they could explore the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaebum's and Youngjae's friendship is my weakness so I had to put it in the story, sorry not sorry.


	10. Problematic First Mission Brings the Pain and a New Member.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I know I said after the last chapter I would start writing about all of them together as a group but here’s chapter 6 but from the others’ p.o.v, which includes some team bonding... Kinda?

Loud chatter filled the silent corridors as five boys and their dragons made their way to the supply rooms. It had been seven months since the younger two graduated from trainee to dragonrider. Today was going to be their first mission outside of the kingdom. A gang of rogues had been stirring up trouble for a village and the people had have enough of the dragons stealing their cattle and burning their houses. The Dragon Guard had been quick to send for Yongguk to brief him on the mission. Himchan had pouted about not being called for as well, which was met by Yongguk sticking his tongue out at him and the younger members laughing at their childish bickering. They had finally packed all their necessities and were now flying towards the mission location.

 

“How long until we get there?” Junhong asked for the fifth time. He was feeling a little nervous, but Totomato had reassured him nothing would go wrong.

 

“About an hour.” Himchan sighed, answering the youngest question again.  

 

“I’m going to take a nap.” Yongguk yawned and laid back to get in the usual  _ ‘I’m riding my dragon, but I would rather sleep _ ’ position he had mastered in his early years of training.

 

“Really? I don’t think now is the time for that.” Himchan moved his head to look at their so called leader. “ _ Aaand _ he’s already sleeping. Great.”

 

“I have to say, it is pretty impressive.” Jongup was scared for their leader the first time he did this but calmed down when Daehyun told him it was normal.

 

“I wish I could nap while flying 100 feet above the ground.” Daehyun whined, scrunching up his nose with envy. The one time Daehyun tried to nap while flying, he had rolled off Kekemato’s back, landing straight into a muddy puddle. Himchan and Yongguk never let him live it down.

 

After Junhong asked the golden question of “are we there yet” about 20 times, they were finally at the forest’s edge. The scouts said the rogue gang were living in a cave, near a pond, 60 meters northeast into the forest. Slowly flying over the treetops, they looked for said place. The location was easy to find, being in a small open area. Yongguk wakes up and leads the others to land just west of the rogue base. They use the surrounding brush for cover as they scout around the area, looking for any sign of the rogues.

 

“It would seem they aren’t home.” Himchan stated when they grouped back together. The others nodded in agreement.

 

“What should we do?” Junhong asked nervously biting his bottom lip.

 

“We stay low and wait for them to come back. We don’t know where they went so going on a wild goose chase would be pointless.” Yongguk looked around the group for any disagreements. He was met with nods and a displeased snort form Shishimato but it was the best course of action no matter how much the dragon hated sitting around doing nothing. 

 

They spread out along the west side of the base and cover themselves with leaves and other fallen foliage. Luckily for them, fate was on their side. The rogue dragons returned home after 30 minutes. Unluckily for them, fate also decided it didn’t like them. 

 

One of the rogues had spotted Totomato and snuck up behind the duo for a surprise attack. Totomato let out a yelp, getting everyone’s attention. Tatsmato was quick to tackle the rogue off the blue matoki but the other rogues were already engaging the others in battle. There were seven rogues in total, so based on numbers the matoki herd should of won easily, but once again fate hated them. 

 

When Tatsmato left Himchan’s side to help Totomato, Himchan was going to follow after but another rogue pinned him to ground. Jongup was able to get the rogue off of Himchan by stabbing it in the side and shoving it onto its side, but soon after he was met with the rogue’s powerful tail smashing into his side, sending him a few feet away. Jongup was a strong kid so a hit like this was easy to recover from. Landing on his arm weirdly? Not so much. There wasn’t a cracking sound but the pain he felt had him clutching his arm tightly, curling in on himself and holding back his scream of pain. 

 

Dadamato was at Jongup’s side in an instant, protecting him from the other rogues as Himchan hurried to the injured kid to check his damaged arm. The others were able to fend off the other rogues, who retreated after noticing the other two downed rogues. Instead of chasing after the remaining rogues, Yongguk thought it was best to move everyone to a safer location up north and reassess the situation. 

 

When they settled into their temporary camp, Yongguk whistled for a messenger bird and attached a note to the bird’s foot. He was requesting back up just to be safe and for some dragonriders to find the smoke trail to pick up the two tied up rogues they managed to take out. The bird quickly took off, flying towards the outpost. Yongguk looked over each of his members. 

 

Everyone had a few scrapes and bruises here and there. The only one who seemed worse for wear was Jongup. Himchan was wrapping his arm in a splint, while Daehyun crafted a sling out of cloth. Yongguk sat down next to Junhong, patting the kid on his shoulder. Junhong in return rested his head against Yongguk’s shoulder as he watched the other two members take care of Jongup.

 

“Are we going to be okay?” Junhong asked in such a low whisper, Yongguk had almost missed it.

 

“Yeah. Jongup is a strong kid, and we can take care of the rest when backup arrives.” Junhong relaxed after hearing his leader’s confident answer. Yongguk smiled when the others joined them to go over the new plan. The plan was to wait for backup, than try to find the remaining rogues, while they send Jongup back to the outpost with someone. Everyone settled down to recover some much needed energy. Daehyun took this opportunity to open his pack and started to pull out a questionable amount of snacks, like a magician pulling rabbits out his hat; Daehyun pulled snack after snack out of his tiny pack.

 

“How is that even possible?” Himchan watched the other boy with wide eyes. “That has to be half the snacks that were in the food supply room.” 

 

“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. This is normal for Daehyun.” Yongguk remembered back during their training days, Daehyun would always have food, pulling it out of thin air. The younger boys started going through the growing pile and picked out a few to start munching on.

 

“Ah ha! I found it!” Daehyun pulled out a box covered in slightly melted ice packs. Everyone watched in curiosity as he opened the box, revealing a slice of raspberry cheesecake. 

 

**“I want some!”** Daehyun smiled at his dragon as he split the cake in half and gave the bigger half to Kekemato. They both ate the treat, humming soft happy tunes.

 

**“It has been a while. When is backup arriving?”** Shishimato was getting bored with all the waiting around. Yongguk was about to reply when the brush around them started to move. Everyone’s guard was up, Dadamato standing in front of Jongup ready to attack.

 

“You guys can calm down, it’s just Holly and I.” Hana said as she stood in front of the group, hands up in surrender. 

 

**“Are you the only ones?”** Tatsmato was surprised that the Guard would only send a pair. Hana and Holly were an amazing team but usually the Guard would send at least two pairs for smaller missions like this. 

 

**“No, we came with our underling.”** Holly informed them proudly. Even if Youngjae and Jokomato weren’t really their underling, Holly still liked to brag about them to others. 

 

**“Underling? You don’t have an underling. Who would leave you two in charge of someone?”** Tatsmato could have sworn none of Princess Sunhwa’s personal guard had any underlings. Himchan shared a look with Tatsmato. They would definitely question the duo later.

 

“Hmph, I’ll have you know that I am a great teacher, and my underling is better than you.” Hana pouted at the pink masked matoki. She did a great job when helping Youngjae and Jokomato study for the dragonrider exam. 

 

**“It’s nice chatting, but we have rogues to catch.”** Shishimato had enough chit chat for the time being. They had a job to finish and it was boring waiting around, listening to small talk. Shishimato wasted no time, charging in the direction of their previous battle.

 

“Hey! Don’t run off!” Yongguk yelled after Shishimato, sighing when the dragon didn't stop. “We should go after Shishimato, before he gets into trouble.” The group nodded and began to chase after the dragon.

 

Shishimato sniffed the air around the rogue base and picked up their faint scent. The scent got stronger the closer Shishimato got. The matoki could hear sounds of a struggle, remembering Holly’s underling was also in the forest, Shishimato ran faster towards the battle. The dragon spotted the small clearing the battle was taking place in and jumped through the parted trees, ready to attack. To Shishimato’s surprise all five rogues were downed.

 

**“Did you really have to take them out all on your own?”** Shishimato was bummed out about the fight being over. It ran all this way for nothing!

 

**“Sorry you missed the party. Maybe next time you’ll be on time.”** Shishimato looked over to the dragon, ready to teach Holly’s underling a lesson in respect. Once again surprised by what it saw.

 

**“Wait… You’re a Matoki!”** Shishimato knew for a fact there weren’t any other matoki dragons at Headquarters. Maybe Hana and Holly were keeping them a secret from everyone but even if they did, some sort of registration would have been required and Himchan would have been informed because he was the head of the matoki intell. Each dragon breed had a person or small group who would keep track of members who were the same breed. 

 

**“And you’re not blind. What a relief.”** This new matoki was starting to get on Shishimato’s nerves. 

 

They continued to bicker back and forth until the dragon’s partner interrupted them. Shishimato was impressed the kid did all the work by himself. Just as sudden as Shishimato’s appearance, the others finally joined them in the clearing. Shishimato was pulled into a headlock by his partner and everything around them turned to chaos, so much was happening at the same time.  

 

“Honestly! All of you are childish!” Everything came to a stop, and fear slowly filled everyone’s body. Hana was terrifying when angry. The herd thought they were safe when the dragonriders showed up to pick up the rogues, distracting Hana for the time being, but when they started to prepare the rogues for extraction, Hana turned her attention to the matoki herd.

 

“All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. It is expected for dragonriders to be professional at all time on missions. What would have happened if those riders came earlier and saw all of you acting like children? They could have reported it and your reputation would have gone down the drain.” Hana continued her harsh lecture as the others looked to the ground in guilt. She ended her rant with a huff and turned on her heel, calling for her underling to follower her back to the outpost. 

 

The group stayed behind to assess the damage done to the forest and help the other riders extract the rogues, flying around them acting like a protective barrier. They landed at the outpost near dinnertime. Daehyun’s mouth already watering when the smell of food wafted through the air. 

 

“Lets hit the mess hall. Snacks are nice but I’m starving for a real meal.” Everyone agreed and hurried to the mess hall. The line for food was shorter than the group expected. It was as if fate was on their side, making up for earlier. Daehyun was even able to charm the people giving out the food to give him extra portions.

 

When everyone had gotten their food, Himchan scanned the room for an open table but was interrupted when Jongup started to walk ahead of them. He lead them to a table already occupied by someone. The others noticed it was Hana’s underling from before. Jongup sat down in front of the kid, while Dadamato greeted the other matoki. The others shifted around the table causing a ruckus again. Jongup quickly cleared his throat and gestured to the guy sitting in front of him. Everyone quieted down, looking at said guy.

 

“I’m Youngjae. It’s nice to finally meet the rest of you.” Youngjae gave them an awkward smile.

 

**“I’m Jokomato.”** The yellow masked matoki popped its head over Youngjae’s shoulder to introduce itself to the other humans.

 

“I’m Yongguk, the red masked matoki is my partner Shishimato. I’m the leader of the matoki herd.” Yongguk shook Youngjae’s hand. He didn’t think they would have another member join but Jongup seemed to like the new kid so he thought it was fine.

 

“I’m Himchan, this is my partner, Tatsmato.” Himchan also shook Youngjae’s hand.

 

“I wasn’t going to interrupt until everyone was done, but is Tatsmato named after the marking on its chest? That’s dumb… No offence.” Everyone bursted out laughing at the comment;it wasn’t the first time someone asked, but it was the first time someone said what they were all thinking when they first met Tatsmato. 

 

**“Why is that the one thing people notice about me?”** Tatsmato pouted and took its head off Himchan’s lap to join the other dragons. 

 

“I’m Junhong and my dragon is the blue one, its name is Totomato.” Youngjae help the soft “cute” that came out of his mouth, he reached out to pinch Junhong’s cheeks. Said boy was desperately trying to get out of the elder boy’s grasp. Once again everyone at the table started laughing until tears started to form in the corner of their eyes.

 

“I’m Daehyun, this is Kekemato.” Daehyun wiped the unshed tears away from his eyes and patted Kekemato on the head. Being introduced to the human, Kekemato also left to join the other dragons, albeit a little more hesitant than Tatsmato. The night continued and they stayed in the mess hall long after everyone else had left. They were even given the keys to lock up. Jongup and Junhong had just resat down with the others after showing off some dance move to Youngjae, when a question entered Youngjae’s brain. The question had been bothering him since he met the others.

 

“Does the matoki herd have a name like Got7?”

 

“Nope.” Daehyun has heard about Got7 and other group names. Hell, their herd’s closest group of friends were in a gang called BtoB, but for some reason the thought about naming their group never crossed any of their minds.

 

“Well, we should. It’s better than being called _the_ _Matoki herd_ all the time. It’s too much of a mouthful.” Youngjae stated. There was a silent agreement among the others. Thus everyone began brainstorming on names. Most were shot down by one or all the members. Daehyun looked around the room for inspiration, his eyes landed on a lone piece of rice. He examined the lonely piece rice in the _best_ lighting offered by the mess hall. Daehyun decided that the piece of rice was _absolutely perfect_. It was too perfect for this world, so Daehyun flicked the rice off the table and onto Dadamato’s head. Suddenly Daehyun stood up, knocking his seat over, and slamming his hands on the table. Surprising everyone and they looked at him like he was crazy.

 

“I know what our name is going to be.” Daehyun looked at everyone, all eyes staring at the boy, waiting for him to continue.

 

“ _ Best, Absolute, Perfect. B.A.P  _ for short.” Daehyun crossed his arms and looked at everyone’s faces. Yongguk looked deep in thought, Himchan just seemed done with everything, Jongup looked amazed, Junhong also looked amazed but also looked half asleep, Youngjae had a face of confusion than grinned, eyes lighting up as if he discovered something. 

 

“All in favor of expecting Daehyun’s herd name so we can finally go to sleep say I.” Yongguk called for a vote, not to his surprise everyone said “I” but Youngjae seemed to be holding in a laugh, Yongguk brushed it off, assuming the other boy was just sleep deprived. Yongguk called their ‘meeting’ to an end and lead everyone out the mess hall to lock up. Junhong was riding on Totomato’s back already asleep, Jongup looked ready to pass out at any moment, Himchan and Yongguk watched over youngest two, making sure they didn't get hurt somehow. Daehyun was a few paces back when Youngjae gently bumped his hip into Daehyun’s, he was grinning widely at him.

 

“You named us after rice.” Youngjae couldn’t help but giggle. Daehyun looked at him, shock written all over his face. Daehyun thought he covered up the true meaning of their name well but Youngjae had gotten it easily. 

 

“Well, aren’t you a bright one.” Daehyun smirked at the younger, wrapping his arm around a giggling Youngjae’s shoulder. “Who are you rooming with tonight?”

“Hana. Why?” Youngjae asked with a curiosity.

 

“Well you don't want to wake her up, do you? Why don't you crash with me?” Daehyun was speaking from experience. Hana was probably the scariest person to accidentally wake up.

 

“Sure! Thanks Daehyun.” They followed after the others to the rooms. This outpost was smaller than most outposts, so everyone had to share a room with another member. Daehyun was able to get his own room because his group was an odd number and there was a spare room. Also he won the rock, paper, scissors match. Daehyun didn't mind sharing a room with Youngjae, it gave them more time to talk. The other members passed out the moment their bodies hit the bed, but Daehyun and Youngjae, stayed up for hours talking about nothing and everything. Today started off great, then went to shit when Jongup got hurt, then became great again when Youngjae joined them, so it was overall a pretty good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Michelle for editing this chapter. I feel bad becuase I forgot to thank her last chapter. 
> 
> This chapter was rushed near the end because my computer was starting to slow down and freeze every few minutes so if the ending seems more shitty then usual that's why. Also I’m trying to see if I like writing a chapter in one day or over a course of a few days. It usually takes me about 10 hours to write a single chapter, with breaks in between typing. But when I take a few days to write I always get paranoid I won’t finish on time. Plus I have to give Michelle at least two days prior so she can edit the chapter.
> 
> I hope you’re enjoying the story so far! Thank you for reading my first fanfiction!


	11. Class is in session. A Dragon’s Life.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on the dragon members of B.A.P.

Jokomato woke up to the sound of faint footsteps approaching Daehyun’s room. Looking at the lump under the blankets that was Youngjae, Jokomato stood up and walked over to the locked door and plopped down right in front of it. The yellow masked matoki noticed Kekemato’s confused stare but simply ignored the other dragon to get comfortable, wedging its body between the door and the nearby dresser. Kekemato’s confusion grew at Jokomato’s strange behavior, the other dragon’s actions became more unclear when someone started knocking on the door. 

 

With no response from inside the room the person, who turned out to be Yongguk, tried to open the door by jiggling the handle. A frustrated sigh could be heard then the sounds of a key being jammed into the lock followed, finally ending with the sound of the door unlocking. The soft cry of victory quickly turned into an angry grunt when the door refused to move an inch. Jokomato was dying of laughter on the inside as Yongguk fought with the door. Kekemato could have said something but the white masked dragon took one look at Daehyun’s sleeping form and understood Jokomato’s actions. Both boys had went to sleep in the early hours of the morning, after yesterday’s mission and the introductions, plus the unnecessary pillowtalk must have taken a toll on the boys. Kekemato decided they both deserved to sleep in and continued to watch Jokomato block the door with amusement. 

 

Apparently it wasn’t just Yongguk outside the door but Shishimato as well. After 10 minutes of Yongguk trying everything from yelling to kicking the door, Shishimato stepped up and started to shove against the door, getting it to budge just a bit. With new determination, Shishimato started to shove the door harder, slowly getting the opening to widen with each shove before the door would slam shut again. Yongguk had grabbed an iron pipe from outside, planning to wedge the pipe in between the door and frame so they could pry the door open once and for all. Sadly, their effort had been a waste. Shishimato shoved the door one more time so Yongguk could wedge the pipe, but the door refused to move again. 

 

Inside the room, Kekemato had finally moved from Daehyun’s bedside to Jokomato’s side when it noticed the door opening wider with each shove. Kekemato plopped down right next to Jokomato and pushed the other dragon into the door more. The position was uncomfortable for both dragons but it succeeded in keeping the door completely shut, no matter how hard Shishimato rammed against the door. 

 

All movement outside stopped for some reason or another. Both matoki stayed tense, ready for the next barrage of attempts but they were saved by Hana’s laughing.

 

“Do you not know how doors work, Yongguk?” Hana couldn’t help but laugh at the young man and dragon fighting the door.

 

“The door won’t open, for your information!” Yongguk huffed and crossed his arms, iron pipe still in his hands. Hana honestly thought he looked like a street thug. 

 

“Is it locked?”

 

“No. The first thing I did was unlock it.” 

 

“That’s strange… Maybe the door is stuck. We could have someone come look at it.” It was rare but there have been times where the door frame would bend or swell up because of moisture soaking up in the wood, resulting in doors being impossible to open. Yongguk looked like he was about to protest but Hana cut him off before he could say anything. “Anyways, I came here looking for Youngjae, he never came to our room last night. I asked around but no one saw him.”

 

Yongguk wanted to tell her about how they were able to open the door a little before it would slam shut again but the door was quickly forgotten when Hana mentioned the missing matoki member. He can’t loose the newest member of their herd on the first day. What kind of leader would that make him? “I think he might of stayed with Daehyun last night. Did you look for Jokomato?” If Jokomato was still at the dragon barracks it should know where its partner went. 

 

A light bulb flicked on inside Hana’s head. “That explains everything.” Yongguk looked at her with a confused face, hoping she would elaborate. Noticing her friend’s confusion she continued, “Jokomato is probably blocking the door.”

 

“Why would Jokomato be in there? Shouldn’t it be in the dragon barracks?” Outposts usually had separated sleeping areas for humans and dragons. The rooms humans slept in were small and housed two people but could fit up to 4 if needed. The barracks on the other hand could fit small herds or gangs in each chamber. Originally a single duo would share a room but because the rooms were small and closed off, dragons would sometimes hurt their wings by banging them on objects or getting them caught on something. That’s why chambers were made; they were more spacious and easier for dragons to move around in without being cramped. The only exceptions to this were bigger outposts, which had chambers with a room connected to it for the human partners of the herd/gang and the HQ. The Dragon Guard Headquarters had separate sleeping areas and dragon barracks for trainees but once they graduated and joined a team they could move into a special chamber. These chambers had a main room that split into smaller signal chambers that had rooms attached so each dragon had their own space and their human had their room connected to it.     

 

“Jokomato never sleeps in the barracks. Everyone back at HQ gave up after the first five days.” Hana never understood why Jokomato was so against the idea of staying with other dragons until Youngjae informed her that Jokomato was so used to being a loner that being around other dragons made it uneasy. Yongguk was about to question Hana as to why Jokomato never stayed in the dragon barracks, but Himchan dragged them both by the arm as he complained about all the reports he refused to do alone. Shishimato watched as its partner was dragged off and gave the door one last look before leaving to get breakfast. Both Jokomato and Kekemato relaxed when the footsteps faded into the distance. They had won the great door war, now the only thing left to do was catch up on sleep. How neither sleeping boy woke up during the exchange was beyond the two dragons but they were thankful for it. Too tired to move, both dragons fell asleep curled up next to the door.

 

“Get out of the way! I need to pee!” Jokomato was jolted awake by Youngjae climbing on top of the dragons, smacking Jokomato repeatedly on the back. Jokomato grunted and tried its best to move a sleeping Kekemato away from the door so his partner could get out. Youngjae bolted out the door once he could open it wide enough to slip through. Daehyun, who watched the whole thing go down, was laughing his ass off before the need to pee hit his bladder with enough force he was running out the room faster than light. Kekemato had finally woke up dazed when its partner left in a hurry.

 

**“Where’s the fire?”** Kekemato looked around the room, trying to solve the mystery of the sudden disappearance of their partners. 

 

**“Not a fire, more like a dam about to burst.”** Jokomato chuckled at the other matoki’s confused look.  **“Bathroom.”** Kekemato just nodded before getting up to do some cat-like stretches. Kekemato gave the yellow masked matoki a pointed look, staring at the matoki as if it was sending telepathic messages. Jokomato simply stared back with a blank face. After a few minutes of their staring contest, Kekemato became flustered and looked away. 

 

**“Breakfast?”** The shy matoki asked in a soft voice.

 

**“Oh! Why didn’t you say so… But I think lunch time.”** Jokomato looked at the clock on the wall as it got up and followed Kekemato out the door. It appeared to have some dents in it.  _ Oh well. It’s not my fault.  _ Jokomato pushed the blame on to Shishimato. Kekemato paused in the hallway watching something, when Jokomato followed the other dragon’s view it revealed Jongup and Junhong dragging Daehyun off to goddess knows where with Youngjae following the trio close behind, laughing at the older boy’s demise.

 

**“They probably have to fill out a report. We’ll meet up with them later.”** Jokomato almost missed Kekemato’s quiet answer but nodded at the other dragon, continuing their journey to get some food. Lucky for the two dragons they made it just before the mess hall was closed, picking up whatever was left. If there was one thing Jokomato didn’t miss from being a lone dragon, it was definitely hunting. Sure it was fun sometimes but having food given to you without having to do anything was better.  

After finishing lunch, Kekemato and Jokomato wondered around the Titanium Hills outpost, looking for something to do.

 

**“Well look who decided to finally show up.”** Both dragons whipped their heads towards the voice. It was Shishimato and boy, did it look not happy.  **“So did you two have fun sleeping in?”** Shishimato was about to say more but was rudely interrupted by Tatsmato.

 

**“You’re just mad Yongguk woke you up at the crack of dawn and you weren’t strong enough to open a door.”** Shishimato looked ready to throw down but Tatsmato ignored the grumpy matoki to focus on the yellow masked matoki.  **“We didn’t really get to talk last night. I mean we talked, but it wasn’t like getting to know each other and that’s pretty important if we’re going to be a team.”**

 

**“I guess, but I’m not sharing my** **_tragic_ ** **backstory unless you do.”** Jokomato didn’t really care about telling the other dragons his past. What it was really interested in was the other dragons’ past. Maybe it would shed some light on what matoki dragons were.

 

**“That’s fair. Come on, let’s go to the chamber. It’s too crowded here to share personal stories.”** The four dragons made their way to the chamber the herd was staying at for the time being. Shishimato was still grumpy but its curiosity was easily taking over. Honestly, all the members of the herd were curious about Jokomato. The matoki clan was on the smaller side, about 97 in total. Dadamato, Kekemato, Shishimato, and Totomato didn’t know all the members on a personal level - hell, the dragons couldn’t even tell you most of their clan member’s names - but they could recognize any of the clan's members by looking at their mask. Between the four of them none of them had seen Jokomato once. Tatsmato on the other hand was one of the Monarch’s offspring so it knew all the members of the clan. When Tatsmato told the other members it had also never seen Jokomato before, their curiosity grew even more.

The four matoki walked into the chamber where they were greeted by Dadamato and Totomato. 

 

**“Okay, it’s story time. Gather around.”** Tatsmato tells the other two dragons. Everyone settles down near the center of the room. There’s an awkward silence floating around. Tatsmato clears its throat before speaking again.  **“So who’s going first?”** Looking around at the members, everyone seems hesitant to start talking.  **“Looks like our leader is going first. The floor is yours, Shishimato.”** Said dragon looks at Tatsmato with eyes of betrayal. 

 

**“Whatever… I don’t even know where to start.”**

 

**“The beginning would be nice.”** Jokomato simply stated, looking around with fake boredom. Shishimato just grunts in reply before starting again.

 

**“The beginning… I guess started out as a ‘troublesome’ hatchling, always starting fights with other dragons. I don’t see why I was ‘troublesome’. I mean, it’s natural for dragons to fight.”** Shishimato pouted and Tatsmato rolled its eyes but didn’t say anything.

 

**“Nothing really happened while I lived in the clan. There was the occasional battle with other clans but other then that nothing abnormal. I left shortly after becoming a juvenile to join the Dragon guard and Totomato tagged along. I had to wait a while for my partner, Yongguk, to show up. I remember the first time we met. He smashed his head against mine.”** The room filled with laughter, Jokomato thought it was fitting that the duo fought immediately after meeting. 

**“By the time Yongguk showed up, I already had a rep at headquarters for being a powerful dragon. I was great at everything.”**

 

**“Too bad your rep was destroyed the moment you two tried to fly together.”** Tatsmato interrupted.

 

**“Hey, shut up! This is** **_my_ ** **story.”** But it was true. Their first flight was a complete mess. They somehow managed to break two walls and took out a good chunk of forest. They struggled for two months straight and showed no sign of improvement. It wasn’t until Himchan and Tatsmato showed up to their class, showing off to everyone. This had lead to a rivalry between the two pairs. With a shared goal to wipe the smirks off the duo’s faces, Shishimato and Yongguk went into overdrive and started to train more seriously. Soon, they were challenging Himchan and Tatsmato every weekend to some sort of competition. The duo had lost every single time but it didn't stop them from getting back up. With the help of Daehyun and Kekemato, Shishimato and Yongguk had won a race against their rival. After the race, the rivalry between the two somehow turned into a weird sort of friendship. Everyone blamed Daehyun, because he was the mutual friend who basically forced them to become friends with each other if they wanted to stay his friend. Shishimato decided to end the story there since the only thing left to talk about was the others joining and they could do that themselves.

 

**“I guess I should go next?”** Totomato looked around to see if anyone objected but was met with silence.  **“As Shishimato said, I tagged along. My reasoning for this was simple: I didn’t really get along with any of the other clan members, Shishimato was my only friend. I didn't want to be alone so I went with him, even if I was ‘too young’ to go. It was weird being the youngest dragon at the Guard but I didn't mind. Meeting Junhong was great, even though he didn’t know he was marked at first.”** Everyone once again started laughing expect Jokomato who looked confused.

 

**“Wait… How did he not know he was marked?** Jokomato asked, head tilting to the side in confusion. 

 

**“He never saw his mark before.”** Everyone was surprised by Junhong’s lack of knowledge on dragons. Jongup, while he also didn’t know much, he knew the basics, where as Junhong knew absolutely nothing. Where Jongup started with normal classes that taught more advanced dragon information, Junhong had private tutoring sessions with Himchan about everything he missed growing up. Junhong and Totomato’s first flight was delayed because Himchan refused to let them fly until Junhong caught up, hoping it would encourage Junhong to take his studying more serious. It worked and soon Junhong was taking the same classes as Jongup. Their first flight was hesitant and careful but they did much better then Yongguk and Shishimato when they started flying. Once Junhong conquered his fear of flying, Himchan starting give the duo private flying lessons as well. Soon, they were flying like champs, even winning a race against the older matoki flyers. Daehyun had given the two of them poorly made 1st place blue ribbons, which are proudly hanging on their wall back at HQ. Junhong, Jongup, Dadamato and Totomato had started a dance crew between the four of them, only Junhong and Jongup could actually dance but that didn’t stop the two dragons from trying. Totomato emitted to collecting little nicknacks he receives from the villagers of Junhong’s old home village. Everyone but Jokomato already knew this but it was still adorable to watch a flustered Totomato tell them about his little handmade plush doll collection.

 

**“My turn?”** Dadamato didn't wait for a response before starting his story.  **“By the time I left the clan, I was already the fastest matoki in the skies. I was even asked to stay with the clan instead of finding my partner, but I wanted to experience things the clan couldn’t offer so I left when I was of age. When I got to the Dragon Guard HQ, they told me my partner hadn’t arrived yet, so instead of waiting around I took action and started to search for my partner. I saw some pretty cool places and got into a few fights but it was worth it when I crashed into him at a little run down village in the middle of nowhere. The little prick had the nerve to play dead on me. I was seriously worried that I killed my partner!”** Dadamato pouted at the memory, but grinned when talking about Jongup’s family. 

 

They were very nice when Jongup introduced them to his dragon for the first time. The duo makes sure to visit them at least once a year with Junhong and Totomato. Everyone at the village was surprised when they returned and oddly relieved that they came back. Dadamato was treated like a king by the children, often given handcrafted gifts and snacks. Dadamato in returned played with the children while their parents worked. There was this one time when Dadamato sneezed and scared all the animals. It took half the afternoon to find all the missing pets. From that day on, Dadamato wasn’t allowed to be near the animals unless they were in the barn. 

 

Jokomato asked about Dadamato’s first flight with Jongup, which was met with a flustered Dadamato. The duo didn’t even make it off the ground before Dadamato tripped and rolled down a hill with Jongup still on its back. They were covered head to toe in dirt and grass, but once they were in the sky it was smooth sailing. Until Dadamato flew too fast, scaring Jongup and landing them both in a tree.

 

**“I suppose it’s my turn?”** Tatsmato took Dadamato’s silent blush as a go ahead to save the dragon from sharing any more embarrassing stories.  **“Since I was an offspring of the Monarch, I had high expectations to be perfect. It was honestly a complete drag and I never understood why I was forced to go through the monarch training since I was marked. But if I had to guess, I think the Monarch hoped I would stay with the clan instead of finding my human, and for a while I thought about it. It wasn't until I left the clan’s territory on my first official scouting mission that I knew staying with the clan wasn’t what I wanted.”** Funny enough, the day Tatsmato stepped foot outside the safety of the clan’s borders was also the day it would be saying goodbye to its clan. Well, that wasn’t completely true, 

 

Tatsmato took a week to say goodbye, but that doesn't change the fact that Tatsmato’s life changed that day. It had been a  normal scouting mission to snoop around the surrounding territories to make sure they weren’t up to anything. Tatsmato had been flying back with his small scouting group when it felt a sharp tug pulling it to a crash site, where a boy laid pinned down by a rogue dragon. Instinct took over and Tatsmato had broken a clan rule ‘ _ Never interfere with non clan related problems _ ’, but the pink masked dragon didn't care, for the human in danger ended up being its partner. Tatsmato had never expected the bond between a marked duo to be this strong. Even though they had just met, were complete strangers, Tatsmato felt as if it knew Himchan since birth and the need to protect the boy grew the longer they talked. Himchan’s dream to become the greatest dragon riders became Tatsmato’s dream and the rest was history. 

 

**“I assume your first flight went off without a hitch.”** Tatsmato smiled at Jokomato before telling the dragon their first flight was successful, but really simple. Himchan mounted Tatsmato, they flew a few feet off the ground and gradually went higher. Sure, it was boring, but that’s much better then crashing into trees or causing five hundred dollars worth of damage. Tatsmato nudged Kekemato with its snout startling the white masked dragon. 

 

Kekemato looked around the room, realizing it was the last one to go.  **“Well… umm…”** Everyone leaned in to hear the nervous dragon better.  **“I was born kind of sickly? I guess.”** Kekemato seemed to question its own story but the other dragons just passed it off as shyness. 

 

In reality, Kekemato was born perfectly healthy. But no one except Daehyun knew that Kekemato was a Sui Generis, a dragon born with unnatural magic abilities. Kekemato’s true color was pink, with white accents. The magic exposed to Kekemato’s egg gave the matoki two abilities: one that allowed the dragon to shift colors to near invisibility, and a weak form of telekinesis. When Kekemato hatched from the egg, its life giver was about to kill the offspring at that very moment. As if the newborn pink matoki knew of its impending doom, changed colors to match the other hatchling. Kekemato never questioned why its life giver didn't kill it on that day. Instead Kekemato was thankful it was given the chance to live a relatively normal life. Before it went to shit and Kekemato was banished from the clan, but on the bright side meeting Daehyun was definitely the highlight of Kekemato’s life. 

 

**“Uhhh… Kekemato?”** Jokomato gently poked the spaced out dragon. 

 

Kekemato blinked back into focus, then with a slightly embarrassed voice continued with its fake origin story.   **“Because I was a sickly hatching I never left the cave much. It wasn’t until I was stronger.”** Could control its color shifting ability.  **“That I started going out and doing the normal chores like hunting and stuff.”** Kekemato remembers almost getting trampled by a deer, that was embarrassing. 

**“I was a late bloomer, so I got my mask about two years after all the dragons my age got theirs.”** The pink matoki was surprised when its life giver had set up a mask ritual for it. 

**“My time with the clan was mostly lonely, I kept to myself for the most part. Then I was kicked out for breaking some rules…”** Kekemato softly trailed off. It was kind of true, in a way. At least Kekemato thought so, Daehyun thought it was bullshit but he couldn’t do anything about it.

 

**“I still can’t believe they would kick you out for burning the food storage down. It was an accident.”** Tatsmato grunted. That had been the lie Kekemato told everyone when it said it couldn’t go back to the clan.

 

Kekemato giggled at the older matoki’s defensiveness  **“Well it was before winter. Anyways I traveled around for a bit. Then one day a few rogue dragons attacked me.”** They weren’t really rogues, they were normal dragons defending their territory from the Sui Generis. **“That was when I met Daehyun. He saved me from the rogues by hiding me in some sort of lagoon. After that fiasco we went to that one competition.”**

 

**“Major League Dragon Cup.”** Tatsmato replied.

 

**“Yeah that. During one of the events Daehyun fell out of the stands, I was able to catch him but we were trapped in the obstacle course so we flew through it. We ended up ‘winning’ 1st place. I think Daehyun has the medal in his room.”** Kekemato was pretty sure Daehyun was using it as a paper weight. The rest of the story was rather generic. The duo joined the Dragon Guard, spent their trainee years watching Yongguk’s and Himchan’s rivalry turn into a weird friendship, became friends with Dadamato, Jongup, Junhong, and Totomato, graduated and now Kekemato was here meeting a new matoki.

 

Everyone turned their attention towards Jokomato, excitement and curiosity crossing all their faces. Jokomato in turn began weaving its own story. **“Well unlike the rest of you,** **I never lived within the matoki clan. Hell, I didn't even know I was a matoki until I crossed paths with another lone dragon, who told me what I was. My parent didn’t tell me much about anything, just made me do random tasks with no explanation. Then one day it gave me a mask and left. I was on my own from then on, until I met Youngjae.”** This explained why none of the others knew of Jokomato’s existence but it was still strange. Jokomato’s life giver or ‘parent’ as Jokomato called it cared enough to give Jokomato its yellow mask but didn’t teach it anything matoki related.

 

**“How I met Youngjae was interesting tho. I was minding my own business, exploring these old ruins, when i hear a fight going on. I was bored so I thought watching a good fight would be a great way to pass time but then I spot a little human trying to protect another human from a rogue. I notice the bond between us right when the rogue charged at them. Of course I took the rogue out pretty easily.”** Jokomato looked quite pleased with itself.

 

**“Wait!”** Everyone jumped at the sudden shout. **“I never got my tiny hat!”** Confused silence filled the room. Jokomato will have to bring this up to Youngjae, maybe even Jaebum if the other male doesn’t give it the tiny hat. 

 

**“Anyways… I guess technically my first flight with Youngjae was when I took him and Jaebum back home. It was a nice relaxing trip back to the village but once we got to Mrs.Im’s house they got grounded… I was also grounded for some reason. She can be really scary when she’s mad.”** Jokomato shuddered remembering the deathly aura that would surround the woman when she was furious. Gaining its composure back, Jokomato continued.  **“It took a few years after Jaebum left for the dragon guard until we joined as well.”**

 

**“I thought you were Hana’s underling?”** Tatsmato interpreted.

 

**“Yeah, instead of joining the Guard with Jaebum we tagged along with Hana.”** _ Nice recover. _ Jokomato thought to itself. Everyone seemed to believe the excuse without any convincing so Jokomato marked it as a win.  **“When Hana thought we were ready to take the Exam, she gave us 3 weeks to prepare. Of course we passed with flying colors, it was a really simple test.”** Jokomato goated a bit, the duo had pass every single test with a perfect score.

 

**“Now that all of that is out of the way, Could I ask a few questions?”** This was the part Jokomato was looking forward to ever since he heard there was a matoki herd at the Dragon Guard.

 

**“Sure thing! It must have been weird growing up knowing nothing about your kind.”** Tatsmato felt bad for the yellow masked matoki. Tatsmato couldn’t even imagine a world where it didn't know the clan.

 

**“First things first… What is up with the masks?”** There had been plenty of times where Jokomato thought about throwing the mask away but it was the only thing its parent left, plus Jokomato didn't know if it was important or not.”

 

**“The mask is mostly a sacred tradition passed down throughout the generations, it can be traced back all the way back to our first ancestors. The mask itself is customly made to match the dragon not only in color but style as well. Why we wear the masks is simple, in old times it acted like a unique war paint, to put fear into the humans whenever they saw a dragon wearing a mask. It was also used to complement the wearer’s individuality.”** Tatsmato simply replied.

 

**“Wait! That’s why we wear masks!?”** yelled Shishimato in shock. 

 

**“What do you mean, ‘** ** _That’s why we wear masks?’_** **how could you now know this already? What are you, stupid?”** Jokomato yelled back, flabbergasted at the supposed dragon leader of B.A.P.

 

**“To my defence I never listened to the elders when they started their tangents.”** Shishimato couldn’t stay awake whenever one the elders would start talking about the ‘good ol’ days.’

 

**“Well, at least I know who not to got to if I have questions.”** Jokomato muttered.

 

**“Hey! I can answer any question you have. Go on ask me a question, right now.”** Shishimato prayed it was something it knew because its pride was on the line.

 

**“Why do you all have gray markings?”** It was something Jokomato noticed as they were sharing their personal info. All of them had gray markings but Jokomato had white markings. If Jokomato recalls correctly, Parentmato also had a white markings.

 

_ Oh thank goddess.  _ Shishimato praised the goddesses for the simple question.  **“Matoki dragons are naturally black. Well technically we’re really dark grey, but you know -  tomato, tomahto. And we have lighter gray markings. It’s just genetics.”**

 

**“Then why are my markings white?”** Jokomato knocked its head to the side again.

 

**“Uhh…”** Shishimato was quickly cut off by Tatsmato. **“You’re a Mutatio or a dragon who has a mutation in color. A mutatio can also have a physical mutation, like an extra arm or something. Shishimato is one as well, since it has two different colored markings. It’s nothing serious; most dragons don’t even notice it.”** Tatsmato gave Shishimato a smug look before returning its attention to the yellow masked matoki.

 

**“So what it the matoki clan like?”** Jokomato asked Tatsmato, ignoring Shishimato’s disgruntled muttering.

 

Tatsmato was ready for this question. Jokomato better buckle up because this was going to be one long ride. The Matoki Clan had one ruler who was given the title of Monarch. Once the Monarch reached a certain age, it would choose another member of the clan, usually one of its own offspring, to become the new Monarch. Only members of the clan knew the current Monarch’s true name: Monamato. 

 

This Monarch had been more strict and harsh than previous Monarchs but it was understandable. More flocks were trying to take some of the matoki land, plus the battle for food had grown over the years. The Monarch had to make sure its clan members were safe and well fed. This meant everything had to be ran perfectly to ensure the survival of the clan. The Monarch had gotten a reputation of being the most feared dragon by the surrounding flocks and clans, for its harsh punishment towards trespassers. The clan itself was not to messed with either, matoki dragons were one of the stronger breeds of dragon.

 

Compared to other clans of dragons, the Matoki Clan was nothing out of the ordinary. They hunted for food, defended the territory, had offspring, and close bonds between the members. Other than the mask ritual, the matoki dragons were just like any other dragon clan or flock. 

 

**“Huh, that’s pretty neat, I guess.”** Jokomato was expecting something… Well, it didn’t know what it was expecting but for some reason Jokomato was underwhelmed by the answer. 

 

**“What do you mean you** **_guess!_ ** **”** Tatsmato tutted at the other matoki, while the others laughed. 

 

**“Okay, one more question.”** Jokomato ignored an angry Tatsmato, much to the amusement of the others.  **“Why do all our names end in ‘mato’?”** Everyone looked at Tatsmato waiting for an answer but even Tatsmato didn't know the answer. Nobody had ever questioned the naming system.

 

**Well you see, our names end with ‘mato’ because we’re bad at naming things. Someone probably went the easy route when naming its offspring and just took a random word then slapped the ‘mato’ from ‘** **_mato_ ** **ki’ to the end. I mean look at Tatsmato, its name is based off the marking on its chest. That should be proof enough.”** Dadamato had a deathwish based on the glare Tatsmato threw at it. No one objected the explanation, it was better than whatever someone else was going to come up with. 

 

**“That works.”** Jokomato nodded.  **“Does anyone ever drop the ‘mato’ and just calls you by the first part of your name.”** There were simple ‘no’s and head shakes thrown towards the question. Everyone called a matoki by its full name, there wasn’t a point to shorten a name. At least that was what everyone seemed to believe.

**“Well I guess that makes Youngjae a weirdo.”** Jokomato wasn’t surprised in the least. It was used to Youngjae being different from the average person.

 

**“Does he shorten your name?”** Totomato asks.

 

**“Yeah, he calls me Joko in private, because ‘saying Jokomato is too much of a mouthful.’ What a lazy kid. But its better then some of the other nicknames he's given me.”** Jokomato refused to be called ‘Pirate Clown’ or ‘Hoarder McGee’. The dragon had nearly attacked its partner after being called ‘Greedy Gold Digger’ for a week.

  
Before anyone could ask about the other nicknames, they were interrupted by Yongguk walking into the chamber. “Hey, it’s dinner time. You lot coming?” With that, all the dragons got up and followed Yongguk to the mess hall for dinner. When they arrived at table, Himchan had Daehyun in a headlock, Junhong was once again playing medigater, and Youngjae was helping Jongup cut his steak while Jongup greeted Yongguk and the dragons.  _ Yup, these people are weird just like their dragons. _ Jokomato concluded in its head, watching Yongguk try to pry Himchan off of Daehyun.  _ But that’s okay; weird is always better than boring.  _ There was a loud crash. Somehow the table was flipped over, sending food everywhere. It was just another normal day with B.A.P. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about giving each matoki their own chapter like I did with the human members but then I was like “ehhh I kind of don’t want to write anymore backstories.” But I knew I needed to give the dragons some sort of origin story. So I made each dragon summarize their life, acting as a deeper introduction/bonding time between the dragons. I felt like I could have talked more about each matoki’s individual stay within the clan but I realized there wasn’t much to talk about. Like their wild dragons, their like wolf packs so they don’t do much. They mostly hunt, defend their territory, maybe fight some dragons. Plus all of them left when they were still juveniles so they didn't do much to begin with. I might write a chapter that talks about each mask ritual but other then that, I think I’m done with all the dragons’ backstories. But who knows what the future holds.
> 
> Kekemato’s magic abilities are still developing so they are pretty weak. The color shifting is like Randall’s from Monster Inc. The telekinesis ability was discovered after Kekemato met Daehyun, which is why it wasn’t mentioned in ch.5. 
> 
> I’m not sure what the next chapter is going to be about but I’ll continue to try my best!   
> Thanks to Michelle for editing the chapter as always. <3   
> Thanks for reading!!!!


	12. Pirate Clown’s treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jokomato and Youngjae move in with the others.

The matoki herd had returned to the Dragon Guard Headquarters after staying a few days at the Titanium Hills outpost, making sure no other rogues started kicking up trouble. When they returned, Himchan made sure to give Youngjae and Jokomato the grand tour of the place since they mostly stayed around the trainee area. Their last stop was the new B.A.P chamber. 

 

It had a large main chamber that split into six smaller ones and each smaller chamber had a room attached to it where the human partner lived. It was like a large six room condo. The other members had already moved most of their things into the new living space but Youngjae and Jokomato had most of their things still back at the old cave in the Eternal Forest. The duo made plans to go back and drag their things to their new home. Youngjae estimated it would take one large moving wagon and at least 4 days of traveling. He talked to Yongguk about their plans. The leader gave them permission and asked them to bring Jongup along. Due to the hairline fracture in his arm, Jongup had been given time off until the wound healed. Said boy was bored out of his mind so this simple ‘moving mission’ (as Yongguk put it) should give the younger boy something to do.  

 

Youngjae awoke the next morning to Jongup sitting on his chest, pinching his cheek. 

 

“Come on! It’s time to goooo.” Jongup gave the older boy his best puppy faced pout. Youngjae groaned before carefully shoving the hyper boy off of him.

 

“What time is it?” Youngjae asked rubbing his eyes with the back of his fist. “If it’s anytime before ten I’m going to leave you here to rot in boredom.” He tried to give Jongup a glare but it looked more like a grumpy puppy. 

 

“It’s ten o’clock on the dot. Now get up and let’s go!” Jongup whined as he pulled on one of Youngjae’s arms with his good arm. Jongup forgot how strong he was and ended up actually pulling Youngjae out of his bed and onto the floor. Deciding that this was much easier, Jongup proceed to drag Youngjae towards his wardrobe.

 

“Jongup I swear to the goddesses I will smite you so hard if you don’t-!” Youngjae was interrupted by a shirt being thrown into his face along with a pair of pants. “Okay! You need to chill.” Youngjae stood up and pushed Jongup towards the door. “Give me 20 minutes and I’ll meet you at the moving wagon.” Before Jongup could protest, Youngjae closed the door on the younger. He smiled to himself. Yeah, Youngjae hated to be woken up in the mornings, but Jongup was too adorable to stay mad at. When Youngjae finally left his room Jokomato was already gone; he assumed the younger duo had dragged his partner along with them. He walked towards their meeting location, spotting Jongup already in the  coachman's  seat ready to go. 

 

“Hey, scoot over. I don’t trust you driving this thing one handed.” Youngjae jumped into the driver's seat as Jongup pouted.

 

“I brought breakfast.” Jongup opened the brown paper bag pulling out two breakfast sandwiches from the mess hall, handing one to Youngjae while he munched on his own. “Wait, why do you get to drive one handed but I don’t?” Jongup asked with his mouth full.

 

“There’s a difference between driving one handed and driving one handed because of a broken arm.” Youngjae stated, munching on his breakfast as well. “Also, I’m only going to be driving one handed for a bit.” Jongup huffed at him looking away. Youngjae sighed. Why does the hurt puppy look always work on him? “I’ll let you take control after we hit our first checkpoint.”

 

“Promise?” Jongup gave the older boy a shy peak over his shoulder.

 

“Promise. But if we crash I’m never letting you drive again.”

 

“We won’t!” The rest of the drive was filled with light hearted chatting. Jongup grew more excited as they neared the first checkpoint. It was a small village that was near a small river. Youngjae gave Jongup some money to buy lunch and a few snacks as he walked the horses to the river for a break. Dadamato and Jokomato ran up and down the river side chasing each other in a game of tag. It was cute in a dragon sort of way. Jongup returned with a lot of plastic bags hanging off his good arm filled with different foods.

 

“How did you get so much? I didn’t give you that much money.” Youngjae walked over to the other, grabbing a few of the bags to store in the wagon for later.

 

“The nice lady at the store gave me a discount for being a first time buyer.” Jongup replied, digging around one of the bags looking for the gimbap he bought. He let out a triumphant sound when he found it, holding the food up into the air as an angelic glow surround the gimbap.

 

“Hey, are you two going to eat with us?” Youngjae yelled at the dragons playing in the river. Jokomato had its back turned towards the humans and Dadamato seemed to be super impressed, too distracted by whatever the yellow masked dragon was doing to hear the question. 

 

“Hey! Stop ignoring me!” Youngjae yelled louder. This time both dragons heard him. Jokomato whipped its head around to look at its partner. Both Jongup and Youngjae bursted out laughing. 

 

Jokomato had about 10 large fish just casually sticking out its mouth. Jokomato’s response was muffled by the fish but Youngjae assumed that the dragon had already got its lunch, who shared its catch with Dadamato. After finishing their lunch they hooked the horses back up to the wagon again and set off onto the road again. Jongup was happily in the coachman's seat holding onto the  reins. Night began to fall when they reached the motel they were staying at. The next morning, Youngjae was once again pounced on by Jongup.

 

“You know one of these times you’re going to hurt yourself.” Youngjae told the hyper puppy laughing at the other’s pain. They hit the road earlier than yesterday because of Jongup’s impaintance. Youngjae went back to sleep while they traveled. He thought it was probably Jongup’s plan all along, but he honestly didn’t care. The other had shown he was capable of steering the horses just fine yesterday.

 

“Youngjae, are we almost there?” Jongup lightly shook Youngjae awake.

 

“Huh?” Youngjae looked around groggily. The area looked familiar to him but his brain was too dazed to remember why.

 

**“I know where we are. Just keep on this path then turn right on the fork.”** Jokomato poked its head out the opening of the wagon. 

 

“Thanks Jokomato, at least  _ you’re  _ useful.” Jongup joked, giggling at the older boy’s confused face.

 

“Hey, I’m plenty useful you ungrateful brat.” Youngjae grumbled, pinching Jongup’s cheek. “It looks like we have about two more hours of traveling. Man, I must have been more tired then I thought.” Youngjae stretched his arms and back. They stopped for a quick break to stretch out their legs and for the dragons to run around a bit, not used to sitting in the cramped wagon for so long. “Why don’t you two fly alongside the wagon instead of just sitting in the back doing nothing?” The question came out more like a statement then a question, but the look on the dragons’ faces made him laugh.

 

**“Why didn’t we think of that earlier!”** Dadamato took to the skies when they started traveling again. Jokomato on the other hand stayed in the wagon to nap some more. They reached Winter Bell in the late afternoon, the villagers greeted them as they passed. They decided to stop by the outpost and sent Yongguk a short message telling everyone they made it to Youngjae’s home village safely.

 

“We can start packing tomorrow. For now, let me show you around.” Youngjae grabbed Jongup’s good hand and dragged him around the village, sharing small stories about his childhood. Their last stop was at the Im household where Mrs.Im pulled Youngjae into a hug. When she saw Jongup, the woman tugged him into a hug but was much more careful of his casted arm. 

 

“What are you doing back here so soon?” Mrs.Im finally asked when they all sat down for dinner. 

 

“Jokomato and I came by to pack up our things. We dragged Jongup along because he was bored of staying at the Headquarters.” Youngjae answered.

 

“You have a lovely house, Mrs.Im.” Jongup said shyly. Mrs.Im giggled at the boy, falling for his puppy like charm.

 

“If only my boys could be as polite as you. I bet your mother is proud of you.”

 

“Hey! I can be polite.” Youngjae interrupted but was quickly quieted by a swift kick to the shin.

 

“What about that time I was called in by your teacher for your rude remarks about her teaching?”

 

“In my defense, she was a horrible teacher and was out to get me.” The two continued to bicker at each other, bringing up old stories of Youngjae’s trouble maker days. Jongup and Dadamato laughed along the whole time. When dinner was over Youngjae set up a spare bed in his old room. 

 

“I should have just taken Jaebum’s room. It’s not like he’s using it.” Youngjae muttered under his breath. It was too late now as he was almost finished setting everything up. Luckily for him the dragons had opted to sleep out in the living room to give their human partners enough space to sleep.

 

“I could sleep on the floor you know.” 

 

“No, no. You take the bed. Mom would have my head if I let a guest sleep on the floor. Especially an injured guest.” 

 

“Speaking of Mrs.Im… Why do you have a different surnames? I mean… If you don’t mind me asking.” Jongup was really curious about the new member. He didn’t know much about Youngjae’s personal life, other then he’s friends with the Got7 gang and the stuff Dadamato told him about Jokomato. Today had been really informative of Youngjae’s past; he skipped school a lot, but he was smart enough to stay ahead of everyone. He liked to explore the forest to look for treasure which was how he met Jokomato. He would pull harmless pranks on teachers he didn’t like and the principal scared him.

 

“My birth mom… Well, my birth family were killed by a rogue dragon when I was still an infant. I’m only alive because of sheer luck.” 

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

“Nah, don’t be. I honestly don’t remember anything about them. It’s like being sad over strangers. To me Mrs.Im and Jaebum are my real family… Maybe someday you’ll be like family to.” Jongup could hear the soft smile in Youngjae’s voice.

 

“We’ll be husbands then.” Jongup said with a hushed voice. Youngjae choked on his spit and started to cough. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m okay. You just caught me off guard is all.” Youngjae stared at the glowing stars on his ceiling.

 

“Do you not want to be husbands?” Jongup turned onto his side to look at the other male.

 

“I think it’s too soon to tell… I mean, let’s give it a few years.”

 

“Okay. If we’re not married in… let’s say 5 years, we should get married.”

 

“...Jongup…” Youngjae let out a loud sigh. “Fine, but we tell no one of this agreement.”

 

“Deal. Good night, Youngjae.”

 

“Good night, sweet dreams, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Both boys quickly fell asleep after the unusual promise. Youngjae for once woke up before Jongup. Jokomato was dragging him out the room by his leg. 

 

**“Come on, it’s going to take a while to get the wagon to the cave.”** Jokomato dropped his leg and let Youngjae stand up to walk down the stairs. The dragon had learned the hard way to not drag someone down the stairs, Youngjae had a slight concussion for a week and refused to talk to the dragon until it was gone. Youngjae fixed a light breakfast for himself and the two snuck past a sleeping Dadamato. The duo double checked to make sure the wagon was in perfect condition then slowly lead the horses and wagon through the Eternal Forest.

 

Jongup woke up to the smell of bacon. His mouth watered a bit as he walked down the stairs. He looked around the kitchen, seeing Mrs.Im cooking but Youngjae nowhere in sight.

 

“Looking for Youngjae?” Jongup jumped at the sudden question but quickly nodded his head.

 

“I’m sorry to say this, but he already left.” Mrs.Im took in Jongup’s surprised face and laughed. “It’s something you get used to after a while. Youngjae had the knack of just disappearing and reappearing.” Mrs.Im trailed off, reminiscing on the old days. She smiled at the lost boy. “Why don’t you shower? I’m sure Youngjae still has clothes in his room. You can help me with errands after breakfast.” Jongup agreed, having nothing better to do. It wasn’t like he could look for the duo; they were probably long gone by now. Dadamato woke up during breakfast and pouted for the rest of the day, complaining about being ditched. 

 

**“I’m going to get my revenge. No one ditches me.”** Dadamato huffed as they followed Mrs.Im through the farmer’s market. Jongup agreed silently with his dragon. He was looking forward to exploring the forest but maybe on another day, maybe with the whole herd next time. Thinking about the others always made him feel better. Mrs.Im took them to a small cafe for lunch as thanks for helping her with errands. They returned to the Im household but there still no sign of Youngjae. Jongup was starting to get worried so he and Dadamato decided to go to the forest. They didn’t get to far in when the sounds of wheels moving and horses walking could be heard. Heading towards the sound, the duo surprised Youngjae and Jokomato.

 

“What are you doing out here? Wait, are you wearing my old clothes?” Youngjae asked with a bewildered look.

 

“It was getting late and I wa-” Jongup was interrupted by his dragon.  **“How could you ditch us!”** Dadamato headbutted Jokomato.

 

**“OW! What was that for.”** Jokomato snapped at the other dragon.

 

**“How could you abandon me?”** Dadamato pretended to sniffle. Jokomato fell for its trap.

 

**“Sorry, we didn’t mean to leave you behind. We just wanted to get this done with and both of you were still sleeping.”** Jokomato explained to the younger duo. Youngjae nodded and ruffled Jongup’s hair. “Next time we’ll make sure to bring you two to all the cool places we found.”

 

“Promise?” Jongup held his pinky out.

 

“Promise.” Youngjae smiled and hooked his pinky around Jongup’s. “Man this is like the millionth promise we made.”

 

“Maybe promises will be our always.” Jongup joked, getting a laugh out of the older male. “Hey, can I keep this shirt? It’s super comfortable.”

 

“Sure, I don’t wear it anymore.” They made their way back to the house where they were greeted by Mrs.Im and the smell of dinner. That night before they went to sleep, Youngjae went over their return trip back to HQ. It was simple, sure: go back the way they came. Although you can never be too safe nowadays. 

 

With a warm hug goodbye and a message for Jaebum, the quartet left Mrs.Im and started making their way home. Youngjae took the first shift steering the horses much to Jongup’s protest. By the time they made it back to HQ, everyone was tired from all the traveling. They decided to save moving everything in the wagon up to their room for tomorrow. Tonight they celebrated with everyone, officially welcoming Jokomato and Youngjae into their herd. Jongup and Youngjae passed out around 9:30 and fell victim to Daehyun drawing all over their faces with a black marker. 

 

Youngjae woke up the next morning well rested and surprised by the crude drawings left on his face. Based on the “ _ Daehyun wuz Hurr _ ” written poorly on his face, Youngjae calculated how much money it would take to send Daehyun to art classes. With a fresh clean face, Youngjae walked out to Jokomato’s chamber, shocked to find most of their things already inside. Jokomato walked in carrying another large bag of gold dumping it out onto the already huge pile of gold treasures. 

 

**“Oh, good, you’re awake. This was the last bag of gold and both your bookshelves are in here, but we still need to bring in the chests of treasure and your books.”**

 

“You could have waited, you know.”

 

**“Ehhh, you looked too peaceful to describe.”** Youngjae smiled at his partner before hugging it.

 

“You are the best dragon in the world.”

 

**“Yeah, I know.”**

 

The duo left the chamber and made their way outside to the wagon. There were two small chests, three medium sized ones, one larger one, five boxes of old books, and one box of Youngjae’s favorite new books. 

 

“Did you guys already start moving?” Himchan asked as he walked up to them. Youngjae was startled to see everyone there. He nodded his head and Himchan chuckled at the confused boy. “Well let us help with the rest.” Between the dragons and humans they were able to take the last of their things to Jokomato’s chamber.

 

“What’s in here? Bricks?” Daehyun complained carrying one of the boxes filled with books.

 

“No silly, it’s my collection of rocks.” Youngjae answered back. Jongup was happily carrying nothing. He only tagged along to watch the others suffer. Everyone was shocked when they entered the room. There, in the middle of the chamber, was a large pile of gold. 

 

“There was more treasure in this chamber than the treasure room in the castle.” Himchan commented, completely memorized by the sight.

 

“Hey, leave the boxes near the two bookshelves in the corner behind the gold pile.” Youngjae snapped everyone out of their trance.

 

“So what’s really in the boxes?” Daehyun asked as he set down the last box. 

 

“Books!” Youngjae said excitedly. He opened the first box and started putting the books onto their rightful home. 

 

With a closer look Himchan whistled. “Those are some old books. Some of them look like they might fall apart.” 

 

“Yeah. I found all of them when I explored abandoned ruins from before the great war.”

 

“I can named quite a few people who would be interested in these.”

 

“They’re going to have to pry them from my cold dead hands if they want them.” Himchan laughed and held his hands up in surrender. Everyone had their passion and it appeared Youngjae’s was old books.

 

“Hey guys look! I’m the king now.” Daehyun struck a kingly pose, wearing a gold crown with pink gems on it. Junhong and Jongup were playing with jewel encrusted swords.

 

**“You better put those back where you found them when you’re done playing with them.”** Jokomato grunted as it moved all the chests into the right positions, the jester matoki liked his treasure placed in a certain way. The boys nodded their heads and placed the things they found back to their rightful places. Everyone took a few steps back and admired the view.

 

“How much do you think we could make off all this?” Yongguk asked.

 

**“Sell a single coin and I’ll cut your hands off.”**

 

“Geez both of you are so extreme.” Yongguk huffed. He didn’t know what he was going to tell the inspectors when they visited to check on things but they had time. For now he just wanted everyone to be happy and if this made the dragon happy then that was that.

 

“I dub this chamber  _ Pirate Clown’s Treasure Room.” _ Youngjae smirked, placing his hands on his hips.

 

**“I Swear to the goddesses Youngjae. I will burn all your books if you don’t stop with the ‘** **_pirate clown’_ ** **shit.”** Jokomato growled at its partner. 

  
**“I like it.”** Everyone agreed with Kekemato. Himchan planned on asking one of the BtoB members to make them a fancy name plate for the chamber's door. Jokomato grumbled under its breath but made no effort in fighting, Youngjae had won this battle years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is slowly coming along but I think I’m going to end this story soonish or maybe take more time between updates because I want to work on other fics but this one is taking a lot of my time. I have 4 more chapters planned out so either I’ll make a ‘finale’ chapter or I’ll update more sporadically after I finish the 4 chapters. This doesn’t mean I’m done with this AU tho! I do plan on making a few oneshots about other groups like Got7 and BtoB. Maybe some other groups. Who knows, all I know is that I love dragons. 
> 
> Thanks to Michelle for editing this chapter.  
> Thanks for reading!


	13. Animal Catching Verse Fun Adventures. The Miracle of Homemade Remedies. The Summer Solstice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> B.A.P goes on a mission before the Summer Solstice.

The weather during the summer in the Kingdom consisted of warm mornings and blazing hot afternoons, only cooling down later in the day. This, however, didn’t stop the flood of people visiting the kingdom. If anything, it brought more people in for the summer solstice that took place during the first month of summer. There was also the end of summer celebration and MLDC, but those were still a few months away. All the members of B.A.P were excited for the summer solstice; this was the first year all of their families could attend the event. 

 

Yongguk and Himchan were going to help out around the diner their sisters co-owned along with Yongnam, who was being ‘forced’ to play a live concert with his band, making it a ‘dinner and a show’ sort of deal. Jongup and Junhong had been saving their earnings so they could bring Jongup’s family to visit. Daehyun’s family always came to the summer solstice to spend time with him and Himchan’s family. Youngjae and Jaebum finally convinced their mother to come and planned on dragging her to every stall possible along with the rest of Got7. It was going to be pure chaos. 

 

The dragons were going to visit the Matoki Clan with the exception of Kekemato and Jokomato. The yellow masked dragon had been invited to come along but declined the offer saying something along the lines of “it would be like going to a party knowing no one there and who was going to keep Kekemato company.” The white masked dragon was happy that its friend was staying. Kekemato wouldn’t admit it but the summer solstice was kinda lonely because Daehyun was busy with family and the matoki didn’t have any other friends outside of the herd. The two dragons started making plans, mapping out a nice flight route and finding the perfect spot to watch the fireworks show while they ate a nice dinner. 

 

Everyone’s planning was cut short when Yongguk was given a mission brief. He gathered the team and they headed to the supply rooms. Jongup was bouncing on his feet, happy to go on a mission after his arm finally healed. Everyone was in the sky soaring towards the town in need of their assistance. The mission was simple: fly to a town called Iron Blossom and help the townspeople locate their lost grazing animals while they repaired the fencing. The heat made things much more difficult, though. They couldn’t fly long distances without the risk of one of the dragons succumbing to heatstroke. Matoki dragons were made for living in the cold mountains, which was why their team focused on the northern territories. Normally they wouldn’t have been given this mission but the teams focused on the southern territories were all tied up in other more important missions.

 

**“I’m going to fight the sun.”** Jokomato grunted, sitting in the shade with everyone else.

 

**“I support this action.”** Dadamato was ready to fly into space and blow up the sun.

 

“You do know destroying the sun would kill everything.” Himchan looked at the overheated dragons, all of them were glaring at him. He shrugged his shoulders and took another swig of his water.

 

“Are we going to ignore the fact that it’s impossible to get near the sun, let alone attack it?” Youngjae dumped some of his water onto Jokomato’s head, the dragon letting out a pleased sigh.

 

“Come on, the town isn’t too far. It’s near a river so the dragons can cool off while we start looking for the lost animals.” With newfound energy the dragons took off speeding to the town. The humans were dropped off in front of the town’s entrance as the dragons headed straight to the cool river. A small group of townspeople greeted them and lead B.A.P to the pasture the animals were usually kept. A few animals were still in the large enclosure but it was obvious a lot were missing. There was a huge chunk of the fence gone where the animals must have left through.

 

“What happened?” Yongguk asked.

 

“There was a bad lightning storm last night. One struck the fence and must have spooked the animals. We were able to find a few still near the town but a lot of them must have gone into the forest looking for safety.”

 

“Alright. Our dragons are cooling off in the river, but we’ll start looking.” Yongguk lead his team out the town and towards the forest. “Okay, we’ll split into two teams of three.”

 

“What about Oldest vs Youngest!” Daehyun suggested, always down for an unnecessary competition. “Losers have to buy dinner when we get home.”

 

“Daehyun, this is serious.” Yongguk said in his leader voice.

 

“I know it is, but that doesn't mean we can’t have any fun.” Daehyun argued back.

 

“I think it sounds like a solid plan to me.” Himchan concluded before Yongguk could counter. Everyone cheered and split up into their teams. Yongguk sighed but went along with the plan. Team YHD took the left side of the forest while Team YJJ took the right. The forest wasn’t thick so it was easy to move around. 

 

Junhong and Jongup happily hopped over logs and climbed up rocks, laughing the whole time. Youngjae was looking for any sign of the herd animals but was distracted by the two younger members, occasionally joining them in their shenanigans. Yongguk had taken the lead while the other two followed close behind. Daehyun pulled out a snack bar to munch on, he broke it in half and offered the other half to Himchan, who accepted it without hesitation. 

 

The dragons on the other hand were splashing around the river, enjoying the cold water. Jokomato showed off its fishing skills to the others, catching enough fish to feed each member. All of them jumped when a few sheep showed up baaing at the masked dragons. Shishimato took this as a sign to lead the sheep back to the town and join their partners. The dragons naturally parted into the right groups, following the partner’s scent and letting the bond pull the duo together.

 

Team YHD perked their heads when they heard movement, but were met with their dragons instead of some terrifying beast. Daehyun happily greeted Kekemato with a hug, while Shishimato informed them of the sheep they found.

 

“Well hopefully most of them stayed grouped. It’ll make things a lot easier on us.” Himchan said as he patted Tatsmato on the head. “Do any of you smell the animals nearby?” The next few minutes were spent with the dragons sniffing around in circles until Shishimato picked up a scent and charged after it.

 

“Why do you always have to run?!” Yongguk yelled at his dragon chasing after it.

 

**“The faster we find them, the better.”** Shishimato wasn’t wrong but everyone doubted the animals were in any real danger so they didn't need to waste energy on running. Shishimato came to a stop, sniffing at the ground again.

 

**“Hoofprints.”** There were three different hoofprints, Yongguk recognized them as cow, sheep, and pig hoofs and the amount promised a lot of them had walked through here. “We are so going to win.”

 

“And you said the competition wasn’t a good idea.” Daehyun smirked at the leader. Yongguk rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore the other member in favor of following the prints. At the end of the trail was a large clearing with a stream running through it. Himchan assumed most of the animals were here based on the sheer amount of grazing on the forest shrubbery.

 

“Okay, so how do we bring them back to town, farmer boy?” Himchan asked Yongguk seeing as he was the only one with farming experience.

 

“Well… We don’t have herd dogs, but If we're able to lead a few away from the herd the rest should follow. The dragons can follow from behind to make sure none of them wander off.” Yongguk had a sudden idea. He began to dig through Daehyun’s pack, letting out an  _ ah-ha _ when he found what he was looking for. 

 

He held out a granola bar, gaining the attention of a few animals. Daehyun pulled out two more bars and handed on to Himchan. They went to the other sides of Yongguk, getting more attention from the animals. Soon Team YHD had the whole herd following them through the forest back to the town. The loud stomping hooves attracted a few more groups of animals adding, more to large herd. By the time they reached the town, the fence had been fixed and the townspeople were waiting. They let out a loud cheer when they saw the dragon riders with their herd. Team YHD had been successful in getting all the missing animals while Team YJJ had yet to show up.

 

“Should we go look for them?” Daehyun asked, he wasn’t worried or anything, but he was totally kinda worried.

 

“Let’s give them a few minutes, I’m hungry.” Yongguk walked towards a nice looking restaurant. Daehyun forgot about his worry and quickly followed the leader. Himchan laughed at the two before joining them. The three dragons raced back to the river to cool off again.

 

Team YJJ were completely sidetracked. All it took was Jokomato mentioning the smell of rusted metal and smoky wood before Youngjae took off running after his partner, gleeful laughter leaving his lips. The younger members followed after, curious about what had the others so excited. What they saw had them memorized. It was a small abandoned village worn out from the elements.

 

“Are these ruins?” Junhong asked looking around with wide eyes.

 

“They could be. I’ll look for a date.” Youngjae was quick to enter the first building. The two humans followed after him like little ducklings while the two dragons followed Jokomato.

 

“This is the first time exploring an empty village.” Jongup could hardly grasp the situation. He spotted an old rusted sword and picked it up. “Hey Youngjae, does this help?” Youngjae quickly walked over, examining the sword.

 

“Hmmm. This is an old style of claymore. It’s a common sword and still used today but this specific design hasn’t been used in decades.” Youngjae handed the sword back to Jongup. He took a moment to ruffle the younger boys hair. “Now the next question is if these ruins were built before or after the great war.” Jongup wandered off to look around some more. Youngjae looked around the room, but sadly, no books in sight.

 

“Hey Youngjae! I found a book!” Junhong yelled from another room. Youngjae raced towards the room, spotting Junhong turning a book in his hands. “It doesn’t have a title.” Junhong handed the book over and moved to stand behind the older so he could look over his shoulder. Youngjae carefully opened the book, the first page held all the answers. Youngjae let out a cry of joy and pulled Junhong’s head down so he could kiss his cheek.

 

“I assume I did good?” Youngjae took a moment to calm himself. “You did very good. This is a diary written by a girl named Alexis who was alive during the middle of the great war.” Youngjae skimmed the faded words; some words were to hard to make out but the context easily filled the blanks. 

 

“Are diaries rare?” Junhong asked excitedly, hoping he found something Youngjae needed.

 

“Not necessarily.” Junhong deflated at the words. “But books written near the beginning or the middle of the great war are quite rare.” Junhong felt better about his find. Youngjae smiled at the younger before continuing. “Diaries are always good to find because it lets us see the world from someone else view during a time we couldn’t experience. Even if diaries aren’t the rarest of book, they are some of the most important. They tell us more about the land and the people who lived in it.” Youngjae flipped through the pages until something caught his eye. A simple drawn map that had a few strange landmarks. He looked at a few pages before and after the map but none of the entries talked about the map or what it lead to. 

 

“Hey Junhong want to go on a treasure hunt?” Junhong’s eyes light up instantly and nodded his head. They walked out of the house and found Jongup in next house over. Youngjae showed Jongup the map and he jumped onto the idea of finding the treasure. 

 

After a quick sweep through the remaining houses Youngjae called over Jokomato, who was disappointed in the lack of valuables, but the other dragons had found some neat things like metal animal figures and shiny rocks. Youngjae loaded ten books into his pack, Junhong showed off his cool looking dagger, and Jongup added the steel dog figure to the figure collection. Jokomato perked up when Youngjae mentioned the map but his partner told him not to get his hopes up, the map was drawn by a thirteen year old.

 

“Okay, so keep your eyes out for a fox shaped rock.” Youngjae was guessing it was a fox based on the long pointed ears and bushy tail. 

 

**“Is this is?”** Totomato was sniffing an old headless statue eroded from rain and covered in patches of moss. 

 

“Based on the bushy tail it’s probably the landmark.” Youngjae looked down at the map looking for the next landmark. “There’s a chance some of these landmarks aren’t around anymore but lucky for us this map looks like it goes in a straight line for the most part.” They pasted a few more animal statues remains until they ran into a dead-end. Everyone looked at the waterfall in awe. The water was crystal clear and looked as if it was made from tiny sparkling jewels.

 

“Even though there is no treasure I still think this was an amazing find.” Junhong said as they all took a drink from the river. 

 

**“Let me bestow some pirate knowledge onto you.”** Jokomato said before he got up and walked up to the waterfall.  **“Just because you don’t see anything doesn’t mean there’s nothing.”** With that Jokomato jumped through the waterfall. The younger members were expecting the dragon to hit the cliff but instead Jokomato poked his head through the rushing water.  **“You guys coming?”** Jokomato held his wing out stopping the water from drenching Youngjae. 

 

Junhong and Jongup shared a look before following Youngjae. Dadamato and Totomato jumped through the waterfall as well. It was a narrow cave that lead to an open room. Sitting on three pedestals were golden animal figures with small teal diamonds on them. There was a Wolf, Bear, and Deer. On each pedestal was writing that read out “ _ Let the animals guild our blood. To the jewel of the unseen. To lead them a better life. _ ”

 

“Go ahead and pick one you guys.” Youngjae told the others.

 

“What, we’re taking them?” Junhong asked with wide eyes.

 

“I don’t see why not. Someone else might find this place and take them. Plus, don’t you want to find this ‘Jewel of the unseen’?” The two younger members looked at each other in silent debate. It would be fun to go on another adventure; maybe the others could join in too. Before they could make up their minds, Dadamato and Totomato already picked which figure they wanted. Jongup placed the golden bear figure with the others, Junhong examined the wolf figure getting an odd sense of familiarity, and Youngjae happily picked up the deer, shushing Jokomato’s protests of getting the lame one. 

 

“Everyone ready to head back to town?” Youngjae lead everyone out of the hidden cave. 

 

“What about the animals!?” Junhong suddenly remembered why they were out here.

 

“The others have probably found them already.” Youngjae answered, patting the youngest’s head. “I’ll pay for everyone’s dinner since it’s my fault we lost.” The younger two were going to protest but were interrupted by Youngjae telling them about the ruins guarded (overran) by snakes. 

 

Since the temperature outside started to cool down, they were able to fly back to town without their dragons complaining about the summer heat. Daehyun tackled the three of them when they entered town, he was worried sick and refused to let them go. Kekemato tried to calm its partner but was surrounded by an excited Dadamato and Totomato telling it about the adventure they went on. 

 

“What took you guys so long? Daehyun thought you all gotten eaten by bears or something.” Yongguk joined them, prying Daehyun off the younger members.

 

“We went on an adventure. We found some cool stuff. Didn’t find any animals though.” Youngjae said.

 

“It was so cool! We can tell you the whole story on our way back!” Jongup said with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. They took a 30 minute break before taking off again heading back home. Most of the journey back was filled with Team YJJ retelling their whole adventure. When it was over, Daehyun complained about missing out and demanding to be a part of the next adventure. They were able to finally stop Daehyun’s whining by changing topics to the summer solstice. It was tomorrow and their families were probably already waiting for them back at Silmul. 

 

When they returned to the B.A.P chamber after turning in their reports, everyone parted ways. The dragons went to bed early, resting up for tomorrow’s trip back to the clan. Jongup and Junhong dropped their packs into their room before joining Jongup’s family for dinner. Yongguk watched his brother’s band rehearse with Natasha. Himchan and Daehyun ate dinner with their families, chatting about the summer solstice. Youngjae was watching the utter chaos that was Got7 meeting Mrs.Im. Today was just the beginning of something greater.

 

The morning came too soon for everybody. Last night was such a whirlwind of events, the only ones ready for today were the dragons. Shishimato, Tatsmato, Dadamato, and Totomato had already left for the clan by the time the humans left their beds. Himchan let out a loud yelp when Yongguk slapped his sunburn.

 

“How did you get a sunburn? Weren’t you the one telling us to put on sunblock.” Yongguk laughed at his friend’s misery.

 

“For your information, I was too focused on telling everyone to protect their skin, I forgot about myself.” Himchan tutted, turning away from the leader. He had already sent a quick message to Sunhwa about it. The princess had many sunburn cures due to her dragon being an albino. Cress didn’t like any of the cures. often complaining about how it made her scales feel weird. Himchan would have to agree but he had no other options.

 

“You didn’t do a good job because Jongup has one as well.” Youngjae said lightly poking the boy, watching as his red skin turned white then back to red. Jongup didn’t seem to mind the poking and continued to eat his breakfast.

 

“Jongup, do you want to come along with me to help it heal?” Himchan asked swatting Youngjae’s hand away from the damaged skin.

 

“Naw, My mom promised to make her sunburn remedy for me last night. It’s the best for healing sunburns quickly.” Jongup said proudly.

 

“Oh, I remember that. It left my skin baby smooth afterwards.” Junhong was thinking about putting some on even if his skin was perfectly healthy. Himchan stared at the youngest two, curious about this remedy.

 

“Can I try it?”

 

“Sure, everyone is coming along to meet my family so the more the merrier.” With that everyone finished breakfast and made their way towards the motel the Moon family was staying at. Himchan had parted real quick to grab Sunhwa and a grumpy sunburnt Cress before joining back up with the others. Cress wasn’t to happy about trying a new remedy but the moment Sunhwa rubbed on the creamy liquid, she instantly felt better. Her skin wasn’t acing, the cooling sensation was amazing, and her scales didn’t feel weird. 

 

“It’s a miracle, Cress hates all remedies we tried before but this one seems to work well. Have you ever thought about selling this product? You’d be surprised how many people are looking for a good sunburn remedy.” Sunhwa asked Mrs.Moon. The older woman laughed and told her a story about how Jongup suggested it but she didn’t think it would work. Sunhwa smiled at Mrs.Moon and called for Mr.Jason who handled a lot of businesses. Sunhae giggled when she noticed the relaxed looks on Himchan, Jongup and Junhong. Youngjae had slapped some onto Daehyun’s face which started a short war but ended with the two rubbing the remedy into each other’s skin. Yongguk rubbed some on as well, not wanting to be left out. 

 

Soon, snores filled the room as Mrs.Moon, Sunhwa and Mr.Jason talked business. The afternoon nap was over when Natasha came to drag Himchan and Yongguk to the diner to start preparing for the Solstice. Daehyun left to meet up with his family. Youngjae joined Jaebum and Mrs.Im for a late lunch, the rest of Got7 off doing god knows what. Jongup and Junhong took the Moon family on a tour of the kingdom before the streets became packed.

 

Shishimato, Tatsmato, Dadamato, and Totomato landed on the Matoki Clan territory where they were welcomed. They made it just in time for the matoki’s own version of the Summer Solstice. Food was laid out, hatchlings played freely outside, elders told stories of the past, and everyone was enjoying the relaxed celebration. Tatsmato was curled up against the Monarch’s side, sharing stories of its recent missions, earning a few laughs from Monamato. Shishimato was challenging old rivals to every challenge it could think of, ego boosting with every win. Totomato watched the red masked dragon, silently judging it before taking a part in one of the challenges, beating everyone and making Shishimato proud. Dadamato flew through the sky with old friends, starting random races and enjoying the fact it was still the fastest dragon.   

 

The sun started to set and the streets came to life for the Summer Solstice. Seas of people traveled through the roads, chatter filled the air, merchants sold their goods, street performers gathered crowds, and restaurants were filled to the brim. All the buildings were decorated with reds, oranges, and yellows making the whole kingdom look like a setting sun when night fell. Himchan and Yongguk were working as waiters as they jammed to Yongnam’s band, sneaking fries whenever their sisters’ weren’t looking. Daehyun held onto his mother’s arm as they walked down the busy streets, eating various foods from the many vendors selling delicious goods. Youngjae walked along side Jaebum, watching as Got7 took turns dragging Mrs.Im to one of the game stalls, trying to become her favorite member. Youngjae finally saved her from the hyper puppies when he offered to treat her to dinner. Jongup and Junhong happily treated their family to dinner at Natasha’s diner as Mrs.Moon told everyone the business offer she accepted, promising them a better life in the kingdom. Kekemato and Jokomato were enjoying a freshly caught meal together when the first firework shot into the sky. Soon the night sky was filled with multiple colored expulsions. Everyone watched,  mesmerized by the beautiful display of shapes and colors. The show ended with a huge bang and slowly everyone looked away from the sky to continue their festive activities. Instead of heading back to chamber, the two dragons decided to stay outside, enjoying the starry sky together. What a great way to end the night.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So funny thing… This chapter came out different from what I planned… Let me explain. The mission was supposed to be a quick hundred words to set up the original chapter’s plot (the summer solstice). But I ended up going into too much detail and made the mission the main focus of the chapter. So instead the Summer Solstice became more of a added bit of fluff. And I think this works out a lot better for the flow of the story because it leads nicely into the chapter 11.   
> There are officially 4 chapters after this one before I MIGHT end the story or take a break to think of new chapter ideas and focus on new stories.
> 
> Thanks to Michelle for editing this chapter.  
> Thank you for reading the story so far! I hope you’ve enjoyed it.


	14. The Past Always Comes Back to Bite You in the Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the past comes back to punch you in the face. It happens time to time.

The summer solstice had came and gone in a blink of an eye. The families had left to go back home. The Moon family planned on moving to the kingdom in the upcoming month thanks to Mrs. Moon’s home remedy for sunburns. Everyone was sitting around outside the gates of the Dragon Guard HQ waiting for the missing dragons to come home. Youngjae was sitting against Jokomato’s side playing cards with Junhong and Himchan. Yongguk was reading a book he found in Youngjae’s room; it was about flying technes old dragon riders would use to get the upper hand in battle. Jongup was tying flowers together to make flower crowns out of nearby weeds. Daehyun was napping on top of Kekemato, who was happily wearing one of Jongup’s crowns. 

 

**“Junhong!!!”** An excited Totomato dropped right in the middle of the card game. Youngjae and Himchan let out a huff of annoyance but let it go when Junhong embraced his dragon. Tatsmato made a more graceful landing next to Himchan, nuzzling its partner. Youngjae couldn’t help but coo at the dragon. Yongguk set the book down to greet his partner, listening to Shishimato boast about all its victories. Dadamato tackled into Kekemato, knocking Daehyun off. Jongup laughed at his dragon as he placed a dandelion crown on its head to match Kekemato. Daehyun grumbled under his breath before he flopped onto Jokomato’s back to continue napping. Everyone made their way back to the B.A.P chamber, sharing stories about the summer solstice. 

 

“Speaking of adventures, did you get anything from the ruins?” Daehyun asked stretching his arms out, sitting on top of Jokomato.

 

“I got some more books, Jongup got a few metal figurines, Junhong get a dagger...” Youngjae continued to ramble about other things the dragons got.

 

“Oh! What about the golden statues we got?” Everyone looked at Jongup. Before the older members could ask, the three youngers went to their rooms. Junhong dug through his travel pack looking for the golden statue. Jongup and Youngjae entered his room with their statues, everyone else following close behind. Junhong finally found the golden bear, pulling it out of the pack to place it next to the wolf and deer statues.

 

“These are certainly unique. Do you know what they are for?” Himchan asked.

 

“I planned on reading the books to see if I could find anything but I haven't had time. There was something written on the pedestals they were on though.” Youngjae cleared his throat “ _ Let the animals guild our blood. To the jewel of the unseen. To lead them a better life. _ ” 

 

“So these statues will take us to a jewel that will make our lives better?” Yongguk took a closer look at the golden animals.  _ What a strange discovery. _

 

Before Youngjae could answer their leader, Junhong’s desk drawer started to glow. Everyone stared at it with wide eyes. Without thinking Junhong opened the drawer and pulled out the thing emitting the magical glow. It suddenly stopped glowing, revealing itself to be a teal diamond connected to a gold necklace with smaller jewels dangling from it. 

 

“That must be the Jewel of the unseen!”

 

“That’s the Prime Minister’s family treasure!” Himchan and Youngjae exclaimed at the same time.

 

“Wait, what?” Youngjae snapped his head to Himchan.

 

“That necklace is a family treasure passed down throughout the generations. It’s one of the few artifacts from the great war. It belonged to one of the original dragon rider’s, so it’s very important. The Prime Minister was almost killed. The attacker was never arrested and the necklace gone. So, the question now is how the hell did you get it, Junhong?” Himchan glared at the youngest. He didn’t want to assume anything but the facts are stacked against him. Junhong paled at the question, he clenched the necklace closer to his chest. Jongup gently placed his hand on Junhong’s shoulder while Totomato and Dadamato got into a defensive stance in front of their partners. 

 

“Hey, let’s all calm down.” Youngjae raised his hands in a worried manner. Yongguk sighed and pulled Himchan out of the room as he yelled for a meeting. Everyone slowly followed him out to the main chamber. They all settled down around the dinner table, necklace and statues placed in the middle. Himchan had his arms crossed but had stopped glaring at the youngest. They sat in silence, waiting for Junhong to start explaining. Jongup wanted to help his friend, but he didn’t know anything about the necklace; it was the only story Junhong never told him. The youngest looked around nervously, twiddling his thumbs under the table, he took a deep breath and started from the beginning.

 

“Well, I don’t know if any of you remember Zelo, but that was me… I was born and raised on the streets until I met granny and Jongup.” Everyone except Jongup was surprised by this; they all remembered hearing the stories about the young thief who disappeared like he never existed.

 

“That explains a lot. We should use your thief skills to get some late night snacks.” Daehyun joked softly. Junhong let out an awkward laugh but the joke helped his nerves a bit.

 

“I was happy living on the streets, stealing to survive, always running. One night I stumbled onto a woman would was sitting on the ground. Normally I would have just left but the necklace caught my eye. There was something pulling me towards it so I just took it without thinking. The next day I heard the guards talking about it and I panicked so I left the town. I don’t know why I kept the necklace but thanks to it I ended up finding Jongup’s village, so I guess I don’t really regret it.” Junhong didn’t look up from his lap, too scared to see everyone’s faces.

 

“You know what this means?” Youngjae looked around the table, slinging his arm around Junhong’s shoulders. Everyone stared at him with confusion. “Junhong is the key to unlocking the secrets of the necklace!” Youngjae looked at the youngest with a bright smile. “We need you to find out how this jewel will lead us to the treasure.”

 

“What do you mean treasure!? We should return it to the Prime Minister. She’ll probably forgive Junhong since he was a child and didn’t know better.” Himchan glared at Youngjae, ignoring the icy stare and handed Junhong the necklace. Himchan opened his mouth to tell the other off but was cut off by someone else.

 

“We’ll give it back when we find the treasure. It’s been gone for years now, what’s a few more days gonna do?” Surprisingly it was Daehyun who interrupted, patting the older on the shoulder to calm him down. Jongup was fiddling with the golden statues in silent agreement. Himchan’s last hope was their leader but when they made eye contact, Yongguk shrugged his shoulders. “It could be fun.” 

 

“Fine, but we should figure this out quickly. The longer we have the necklace the more trouble it’ll bring.” Everyone let out a cheer. The four youngest ran off to Youngjae’s room. Yongguk didn’t know why the three of them followed Youngjae, but they’ll probably come back out when Youngjae pulls out the books.

 

“I hate being the party pooper.” Himchan pouted childishly. Yongguk rolled his eyes and poked Himchan’s cheek.

 

“The official term is responsible adult and every team needs one.” The dragons interrupted Yongguk to tell him about the plans to train for a bit. Yongguk nodded his head at Shishimato and waved all six dragons goodbye before continuing. “It’s probably the better choice to give the necklace back as soon as possible and normally I would have backed you up, but sometimes you have to take a chance when adventure calls.” Himchan understood what Yongguk was saying. Growing up, he had followed all the rules and surpassed every expectation but doing something against the books was new for him, it was honestly exciting but he couldn’t help the nervous feeling in his stomach.

 

“I’m throwing all of you under the bus if we get in trouble.” Himchan smirked at the oldest before getting up to join the others in Youngjae’s room. Yongguk chuckled knowing Himchan was lying. He knew Himchan will be sitting right next to him in the jail cell, plotting their escape if this adventure went to shit. The two oldest opened the door to an unbelievable sight: Junhong was resting his head in Youngjae’s lap taking a nap, Youngjae was using the youngest’s head to prop the book up, Jongup was doodling in one of Youngjae’s many notebooks, but what had them both shook was Daehyun reading a book.

 

“Oh my stars, Daehyun is actually reading. Did we go to the twilight zone?” Himchan exclaimed holding onto Yongguk’s arm. The leader looked at Daehyun with wide eyes as well.

 

“Shut up! You guys are acting like I’ve never read a book in my life!” 

 

“Have you?” Jongup asked looking up from his doodle. 

 

“I’ll have you know I’ve read a lot of books.” Everyone continued to stare at him with a blank look. No one believed him until Youngjae awkwardly coughed. 

 

“Umm. We occasionally talk about books we’ve read and he’s read quite a few from what I gathered.” Daehyun gave the younger a sweet smile before smirking at everyone else.

 

“Huh. I never took you for a book worm.” Yongguk sat down next to him, nudging Daehyun with his elbow.

 

“Well I have an image to uphold. I can’t look like a nerd.” Daehyun nudged the older back, rolling his eyes.

 

“What’s wrong with being a ‘nerd’? It shouldn’t be something you’re ashamed of.” Youngjae huffed before barring his nose back into the book he was reading.

 

“I didn’t mean anything by it!” Daehyun whined at the other, who continued to ignore the older. Jongup giggled at the scene happening before him. It was like one of those plays Himchan talked about, where the girl and guy get into a fight over a misunderstanding, only to get back together anyways. Junhong woke up when Youngjae shifted to turn his back towards Daehyun.

 

“What’d I miss?” Junhong slurred, rubbing the sleep out of eyes.

 

“Just Daehyun being an idiot.” Himchan replied in a sing-song voice. Junhong snorted and muttered a “ _ when is he not? _ ” under his breath, earning him a kick from Daehyun. Junhong sat next to Youngjae while he examined the necklace and gold figures. Each figure was well detailed and had similar teal diamond eyes that matched the diamond on the necklace. Junhong placed the golden figure in a semi circle before holding the necklace facing him in front of the golden animals’ eyes. The diamond and eyes glowed brightly as something formed inside the diamond, an insignia of some sort. Everyone watched in awe as the light began to fade. While the eyes stopped glowing all together, the necklace had a soft beam of light that pointed out north. Junhong rotated the jewel a few time but the light continued to point north.

 

“Looks like we have our guide.” Youngjae whispered, causing the youngest to jump. 

 

“Can I see it?” Junhong nodded and handed him the necklace. The jewel stopped glowing instantly but Youngjae didn’t care, instead focusing on the insignia inside the diamond. He gave Junhong the necklace before standing up to search the bookshelf. Everyone else gathered around Junhong to look at the necklace, taking turns holding it.

 

“Why does it only work for Junhong?” Jongup asked but everyone stayed silent, no one knew why.

 

“Probably magic of some sort.” Youngjae said walking back into the room, flipping through pages of a book.

 

“Magic? I thought magic wasn’t real.” Yongguk watched as Youngjae took the necklace and examined it while looking at the book.

 

“Well… The history of magic is complicated. It’s believed that dragons were the only beings who could control it because they were so attuned with nature, while humans never had the ability, but some argue that both humans and dragons could control magic. The only thing people agree on is that after the war the ability to control magic was gone. The only evidence of magic ever existing are in very rare artifacts like this one and dragons who are born with unnatural powers. I think dragons refer to them as  _ Sui Generis _ .” Daehyun froze at the words but no one seemed to notice. Youngjae let out a noise of triumph. “This insignia belongs to a man named Choi Chul-Moo. It was a family insignia and he was one of the first dragonriders. Maybe his dragon did something to the jewel so it would only work if someone from his bloodline could activate it.” Everyone took a few moments to absorb the information. It was a lot to digest and brought up a few questions.

 

“The Prime Minister’s family name is Rhie and it’s traced all the way back to Rhie Ahnjong, who was also one of the original dragonriders. The necklace is thought to be hers.” Himchan states.

 

“The necklace could have been given to her or maybe she took it, because the Rhie family insignia hasn’t changed and looks nothing like the Choi family insignia.” Yongguk said, rubbing his chin in thought.

 

“The ruins we found the statues at... The map leading us to the statues was made around the middle of the war right? But the dragon riders didn't become a thing until the end of the war so wouldn’t that mean the necklace was made before the dragonriders… Why didn’t anyone look for it back then?” Jongup crossed his arms in thought.

 

“Maybe they did. I mean we stumbled onto it by accident, who knows if they even knew about the statues, they could have just thought it was a family necklace.” Youngjae patted the younger on the shoulder. The sad thing about the past is that no one can truly know what happened unless they experienced it themself. Daehyun groaned, flopping onto his back. “This whole, when, where, who and why thing is getting boring can we find out what this great treasure is?” Junhong picked up the necklace, watching the beam of light point north again. “Let’s get the dragons and head out.”

 

Everyone stood up to stretch before walking out of the chamber towards the training grounds. Yongguk left the group to inform the council they would be leaving for a few days to work on team bonding. Lucky for him the council didn’t bat an eye and wished them a safe trip. The leader met up with everyone outside the headquarters; Himchan threw a travel pack at him. “Hopefully this place isn’t extremely far.” Yongguk said as he mounted Shishimato, taking to the skies with everyone else.

 

**“Seeing as the ruins are half a day way down south and the light is pointing north, the treasure shouldn’t be too far. I’d guess it’s somewhere in the mountains a few hours away.”** Tatsmato concluded. The statement was logical and made sense, during the war it was hard for humans to travel far from their villages without the risk of being attacked. Plus it was common for people to hide their valuable things in mountain caves, it was almost cliché now. Once the kingdom left their sights, Junhong pulled out the necklace to make sure Tatsmato’s prediction was right. The light pointed in the direction of the mountains, making Tatsmato brag about its clever guess. Shishimato praied the light would bring them somewhere else just so Tatsmato would be wrong. Sadly fate was on Tatsmato’s side when they flew between two mountains.

 

“Do you think we’re almost there?” Jongup shouted over the roaring cold winds. They dragons were fine but the humans not so much. Since it was summer none of them thought it was necessary to bring heavy jackets so they were stuck with light jackets that didn’t keep the cold out. Totomato suddenly turned around and few back, only to turn around again. 

 

“Guys! I think this is the mountain. The light is pointing down now.” Everyone followed Totomato and Junhong slowly descending down the mountain into a large ravine. They pasted a few caves but didn't stop until the light started to point upwards again then straighten out when Totomato landed inside the cave.  **“Looks like we found it.”** Totomato bounced around excitedly. The group started walking down the long passage, keeping an eye out for anything unusual.

 

**“Technically you were wrong.”** Shishimato told Tatsmato, purposely bumping into the other dragon playfully. 

 

**“What do you mean?”** Tatsmato playfully shoved the matoki back.

 

**“You said the treasure would be in a mountain, this is a ravine.”** Shishimato laughed at Tatsmato’s surprised look.

 

**“Only you would care about that small detail.”** Tatsmato rolled its eyes but smiled at the other dragon. Everyone’s conversations were cut short when Junhong spotted three pedestals. Thank the goddesses they brought the golden statues with them, they placed the statues in the same order as before, left to right, wolf, bear, deer. Junhong walked up to the wall behind the pedestals and placed the necklace into the matching indent. The right wall started to open, leading the group to a secret room. 

 

In the center of the room stood a sword, at the back of the room stood three chests, each one had one of the golden statues on top of it. Junhong picked up the sword and swung it a few time before examining it. The sword was perfectly crafted, it was made out of a high quality metal, with a harmonic balance, and the hilt was comfortable to hold. The fuller had a few things engraved into metal and the gold pommel was shaped like a dragon head with a teal diamonds in its eyes and jaw. 

 

“Hey, I found a note!” Youngjae yelled at the others as he unrolled it.  _ “I desire one day our blood findeth this blade to slay the final dragons from this land. -H.O Choi.”  _ Everyone looks at Youngjae, who is still looking at the note.

 

“I guess he was a dragon slayer.” Daehyun said out loud, covering Kekemato’s ears.

 

“Everyone was a dragon slayer during that time period. It’s still a neat find.” Yongguk said looking at the blade in Junhong’s hands. “The metal must be made out of draconium, a rare metal that made cutting through dragons like butter. It works great on armor as well…” All the dragons shuttered in fear. “I don’t know what the engraving are supposed to be, maybe Youngjae knows.” Junhong walked over to Youngjae, who met him in the middle, gently holding the blade in his hands.

 

“I’m not sure, but it’s probably protection ruins or something. I know someone who's very knowledgeable on these sorts of things. I can copy them down later and have him examine them.” Junhong nodded his head.

 

“I found the scabbard.” Himchan held it out for Junhong. It was a simple rich brown leather scabbard with the family insignia on it. Junhong placed the sword inside and helped his friends pack the chests onto their dragons. 

 

**“So… What are you going to do with the gold?”** Jokomato asked Junhong with innocent dragon puppy eyes.

 

“I don’t plan on doing anything with it. If no one else is going to use it, I guess you can add it to your collection.” Jokomato waited for anyone to object, there were a few mumbles of taking some to exchange for money but it seemed Jokomato was keeping the majority of the treasure. The dragon was already planning the perfect place for the chess to be set down by the time they left the cave. The journey back was slower due to everyone being tired. Somehow they still managed to find enough energy to joke and fool around. Himchan wanted to return the necklace as soon as they were finished but when they finally got back to headquarters, all he wanted to do was sleep. Which he did with no regrets. 

 

The next day, Himchan set up a meeting with the Prime Minister. He dragged everyone along, saying they were in this all together. Junhong was terrified and held onto Yongguk’s hand the whole time Himchan explained what happened; surprised when he lied to the Prime Minister. Instead of telling her Junhong took the necklace off her, he told her Junhong found it laying on the ground, it must have slipped out of the attackers pocket when fled the scene. The Prime Minister blindly fell for the lie and thanked Junhong for taking good care of the necklace. Himchan also informed the Prime Minister of the fact the necklace belonged to the Choi family and not the Rhie Family. She smiled at him and told everyone the story her ancestors had pass down along with the necklace. 

 

The story was about Ahnjong and Chul-Moo, how they fell in love on the battlefield and decided to marry after the war. The necklace had been a wedding gift to the bride from the groom. Chul-Moo took the Rhie family name, believing his family had been killed during the war, it wasn’t until years later he found some living relatives. The Prime Minister welcomed Junhong into the family, the youngest didn’t know what to do but promised to visit sometime. They all ate lunch with the Prime Minister before heading back home.

 

“That wasn’t so bad right?” Himchan wrapped his arm around Junhong’s shoulders, causing the youngest to bend his knees to match the older’s height. Junhong broke free from Himchan’s hold and ran to his room, grabbing the sword, he came back out and playfully pointed it at Himchan, who held his hands up in surrender. Jongup started to throw random things at Junhong, watching the youngest cut through all of them like nothing. Jongup stopped to restock on useless items and Junhong took this time to look at the sword again. His eyes land on the jewel between the dragon's jaws. For some reason he pulls on jewel, almost dropping the sword when the diamonds and engravings start to glow.

 

“Guys, my sword is magical!” Everyone wiped their heads towards the youngest, and there he was standing there with a glowing sword.

 

“Well, that explains the engravings.” Youngjae muttered. The rest of the day was spent seeing what the sword did. Youngjae still sent a letter with the engraving to his friend to know exactly what they meant but he assumed they were nature related. Flowers would grow when it touched the ground, water would freeze, fire would combust when he swung, lightning would shoot out whenever he stabbed. Everyone was now scared of the youngest member, for he held the power to kill them all. Not that he would ever do that  _ but…  _ he still enjoyed knowing he had the power to invoke fear into his enemies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Granny (Mrs.Choi) and Junhong aren’t actually related it’s just coincidence they share a family name (Poor planning on my part.) A chapter about the necklace had been planned ever since Junhong’s intro chapter but the details about the chapter weren't made until I started working on it. I sort of forgot that I gave granny, Choi as a surname because Junhong taking her surname was supposed to symbolize him finally finding a family etc. So when I started writing this I was going to reveal his true (irl) family surname but then I went back to read ch4 and realized he already had the surname Choi, so instead of changing the surname I just kept it the same. I mean Choi isn't a rare surname so that's my excuse. It's just a family who happens to have the surname Choi, had access to magic and made a badass sword.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> Thank you Michelle, for editing this chapter!


	15. Not so Smooth Sailing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> B.A.P go on a mission to help Daehyun’s father with a fish thief.

Normally missions were given out by the Dragon Guard Council, but on occasion, teams did personal missions approved by the council. That is what B.A.P was doing right now. Mr.Jung’s fishing lines have been disappearing for the past month, making a huge dent in his profits. The few times he managed to find his fishing lines, they were empty and heavily damaged. He wasn’t the only one being affected by this; all the other fishers faced similar problems. Water dragons were rare and only a handful were marked. 

 

The dragon guard had two water teams but they had their hands full with the water hazards left from the summer storms, so Mr.Jung asked his son if his team could help. Daehyun agreed instantly, not waiting for the council’s approval. Jongup had to hold the older down while Himchan talked to the council about the mission. Everyone rushed to get their gear before flying out to Hidden Seashore with Daehyun in the lead. 

 

“Hello, everyone. I’m glad all of you came.” Mr.Jung greeted when they landed. He did a quick head count and realized there was a new member. “Who’s this?” The older man held his hand out to Youngjae.

 

“I’m Youngjae! It’s nice to meet you.” Youngjae shook the other man’s hand with a bright smile. “Mr.Jung, It’s nice to meet you as well.” 

 

“Now that introductions are over, how about we check out the fishing spots.” Daehyun offered. Everyone nodded and climbed aboard onto the Mr.Jung’s ship. Daehyun spent the trip talking with the crew and introducing them to his team. Everyone watched as the crew members pulled the first net out of the water. This one wasn’t moved from it’s spot, but the net was completely torn apart. 

 

“It looks like it was pulled apart.” Himchan said, examining the broken net.

 

“How do you know?” Junhong asked looking at the rope, not seeing anything other than a broken net.

 

“If something cut or chewed through the rope it would have different fraying around the edges. This was definitely pulled so hard it ripped.” Everyone nodded at  _ detective  _ Himchan, looking at him with awe.

 

“So what does this mean, oh great detective?” Himchan punched Yongguk’s arm before answering the question. “It rules out people and fish… So I assume it’s a dragon or a group of dragons.”

 

“Mr.Jung, do you have any spots that are near land or rocks? We can set up a trap to lure the dragons responsible for this and confront them.”

 

“Confront them?” Mr.Jung asked worried. He knew it was apart of the job, but that didn’t stop the unsettling feeling in his gut.

 

“We’ll ask them to stop breaking the nets and if they start a fight we’ll end it; nothing to worry about, sir.” Yongguk gave the older man a pat on the shoulder. 

 

“Yeah, dad! We got this.” Daehyun jumped in the conversation. “Isn’t there a place not far from here with a few small islands and what not?”

 

“That would be the best place to set a trap, but be careful. The largest island might be a dragon territory- we’re not sure just yet.” Yongguk took note of this. They probably shouldn’t intrude on the possible territory, but there was a chance the dragons there were responsible. They can find out once the culprits were caught. Mr.Jung let B.A.P off on the closest island to the fishing spot. 

 

“Do you boys need anything?”

 

“We’ll be fine! We packed a bunch of stuff before we left.” Daehyun waved at his father’s boat, watching as the crew prepared a net before dropping it in the water.  

 

**“I’m so glad to be off that boat.”** Kekemato said to its partner. Daehyun snorted looking back at all the dragons complaining about the rocky ride here.

 

“I guess dragons aren’t made for sea travel. Are you seasick?”

 

**“I’m fine, but I wouldn’t mind not going back on another boat.”**

 

“You’re going to break my father’s heart. What are you going to do when I go on fishing trips with him?” Daehyun grabbed his chest in fake hurt.

 

**“Stay with the others, maybe go on an adventure without you.”** Kekemato said in a sing song voice. Daehyun faked a pain expression about to whine, when he heard his father’s boat honk at them. He waved at the boat with the others, watching it disappear from their view.

 

**“Are we just going to wait until something happens?”** Shishimato asked, already bored with the mission.

 

“There isn’t much we can do and someone has to keep watch.” Yongguk took a seat on some driftwood and pulled out a notebook; everyone liked to joke about it being a diary since the leader was so protective of it. Junhong was able to peek into the book when no one was looking and to his surprise it was filled with raps and compositions. Who knew their great leader was also a musician? According to Zico, Yongguk was popular in the underground rap scene, but whenever the youngest tried to follow their leader he would lose him in the night time crowd. 

 

**“Ugh. What are we supposed to do? Build sand castles? Sleep? No one wants to do that.”** Yongguk raised an eyebrow at his dragon then nodded towards Jokomato who was sleeping in the shade, then to Jongup and Junhong building a sand castle on top of Totomato. Himchan was drawing in the sand with Dadamato. Shishimato huffed then stomped off, eyes spotting Youngjae walking towards the island’s forest.  **“Where are you going?”**

 

“Huh? Oh, I’m going to check out the island. It’s not big, probably a 20 minute walk from one side to the other, but you never know.” Youngjae smiled sheepishly. “You want to come? I think Daehyun is coming to.” Said human came running up to them, giving them a bright smile.

 

**“It’s better than sitting around here doing nothing.”** Youngjae turned to ask Jokomato if it wanted to come with them but it seemed his partner was trapped in a cuddle pile with Tatsmato and Kekemato. Shaking his head fondly, Youngjae walked into the forest with Daehyun and Shishimato following by his side. The island had large pointed rocks randomly scattered everywhere, the trio didn't think anything about them until they saw inside a broken one. Brightly multi colored crystals lined the inside. Shishimato broke a few more, discovering each rock had different colored crystals. Youngjae took his time to sort through all the crystal shards only keeping a handful of each color.

 

“This forest isn’t that dense. I can already see where the forest ends on the other side.” Youngjae stated, looking around. Daehyun paused to pick up a rock. It was sort of shaped like a heart. How cute.

**“It** **_is_ ** **a small island. I wouldn’t expect a dense forest like the ones in the mainland.”** Shishimato looked at the heart shaped rock; one side was lopsided but the dragon decided not to say anything about it. 

 

“What about Coral Cay? That’s an island with a dense forest.” Daehyun pocketed the rock and continued walking towards the other side of the island.

 

**“Coral Cay is a large enough island to be considered a continent- it even has a functioning ecosystem!”** Shishimato said, taking a break to let the sea air brush against his face. It might be boring waiting on this island, but at least the view of the ocean was calming. Youngjae interrupts Shishimato’s moment of relaxing with a loud gasp, pointing towards the water; a few dolphins are jumping out of the water.  **“Haven’t you seen dolphins before?”** Shishimato asked. With how much the duo traveled, the dragon was surprised by Youngjae’s awestruck look.

 

“We never traveled near the ocean- there was no need to. I’ve only seen large sea creatures in books.” Youngjae walked out to the edge of the beach, waves barely reaching his shoes.

 

“You’ve been missing out then. Maybe next time we can swim with them.” Daehyun nudged the younger with his shoulder.

 

**“You’re not going to jump in to get a better look, are you?”** Shishimato gave the two humans a skeptical look. It wasn’t responsible for them drowning.

 

“Of course not, I’m not a good swimmer, remember?” Youngjae pouted at the dragon. Daehyun laughed and Shishimato snorted at the memory of Youngjae getting pushed into the deep side of a lake and struggled to get back to shore. He looked like a grumpy kitten who was forced to take a bath. That was the day everyone learned that Youngjae could make them all feel like the worst kind of people with one sad look and the cold shoulder. Everyone was stuck doing his bidding until he was satisfied with their punishment.

 

**“Remind me to never get on your bads side.”** Youngjae giggled at the dragon before taking a seat in the shade while Daehyun looking around the shore for seashells. Shishimato found a few, which Daehyun examined; tossing the ‘ugly’ ones back into the water and keeping the ‘pretty’ ones, Shishimato honestly couldn’t tell the difference. Once the human found enough shells, he sat down next to a napping Youngjae and started to make small holes in one of the spiral shells and cut the tip off the conch shell. Daehyun smirked as he placed the conch shell on his lips before blowing air into it right next to the younger’s ear. The loud sound woke Youngjae up instantly. He punched the shell without thinking ,smashing it back into Daehyun’s face. The older boy yelped in pain and clutched his bleeding mouth, a few tears slipped out of his eyes.

 

“Holy shit! Daehyun!” Youngjae dug through his bag, pulling out a handkerchief. He moved Daehyun’s hand and applied pressure to his busted lip. “Are you okay?” The younger felt guilty for hurting his teammate. Daehyun gave him a thumbs up.

 

**“You kind of deserved that.”** Daehyun glared at Shishimato but it wasn’t effective since his eyes were still watery.  **“Maybe next time you’ll be prepared to dodge.”** Daehyun rolled his eyes at the dragon. He winced when Youngjae pulled the handkerchief away to examine the damage.

 

“It looks like your teeth are fine but your bottom lip looks like shit.”  Youngjae poured some water onto a clean rag and gently wiped the blood off of Daehyun’s face.

 

“It looks like I can’t do what I wanted to do.” Daehyun pouted looking at the spiral shell in his hands as the younger rubbed antibiotic ointment onto his lip.

 

“What is it?” Youngjae picked the shell up examining the small holes on it. “A flute or something?” 

 

“Kinda? I call it a recorder but flute works to.” Youngjae blows air through the shell, jumping at the high pitched screech coming out of the shell. Daehyun and Shishimato laugh at the horrid face the younger is making. “This sounds terrible.” Youngjae placed the shell back into Daehyun’s hands.

 

“I’ll show you what real talent looks like when my lip is healed.” Youngjae nodded his head and the trio fell into silence, taking time to enjoy the crashing waves. The day was reaching the golden hour when the trio walked back to the others. Youngjae sat down next to Yongguk, who was drying off with a towel. Looking at the others, Youngjae assumed they all jumped into the ocean a little while ago. Junhong and Himchan were still slashing each other, the water went up to their knees. 

 

**“Did you find anything?”** Jokomato asked walking up to its partner. Youngjae showed the dragon the crystals he found and a few of the shells Daehyun found.

 

“Night time is about to fall. We should start a fire.” Yongguk yelled at the others to gather around. Himchan, Jongup, and Youngjae were tasked with setting up the tents while everyone else gathered firewood for the night.

 

“You should probably set the tents under the trees. It’s going to rain tonight.” Daehyun said.

 

“How do you know? The sky is clear.” Jongup asked looking up at the golden red sky.

 

“Trust me on this. Weather is always quick to change when it comes to the ocean.” The  three of them start to clear a spot under the trees, trusting Daehyun’s instincts. In no time they have camp set up and everyone is enjoying the meals they packed.

 

“Do you think the dragon will come tonight?” Junhong asked, setting his trash in a garbage bag.

 

“I hope it does. I’d hate for this mission to drag on for days.” Yongguk said. Everyone silently agreed with the leader. The night went on without a single movement from the fishing net. Just like Daehyun’s prediction, it started to lightly drizzle but they were saved by the tree branches. It was close to midnight when the drizzle became a wall of water accompanied by thunder and lighting. Yongguk decided to let the others go to sleep while he and Daehyun took first watch. The others didn’t make it to the tents before the buoys were pulled under the water before resurfacing. Daehyun and Yongguk were flying towards the buoys with the others close behind. Kekemato and Shishimato snatch up the buoys before they were dragged down again. They pulled the fishing net up to expose the culprit but instead of a dragon, it was a large appendage.

 

“What is that!?” Junhong exclaimed as Totomato and Dadamato took hold of the net as well. The appendage seemed to be never ending and refused to let go of the net, slowly pulling the four dragons closer to the ocean. Tatsmato shot fire at the appendage causing it to finally let go, but the creature was obviously angered by being attacked. The large creature started to breach the ocean surface, everyone watched with wide eyes. 

 

“What the fuck is that?! Why does it have tentacles?!” Junhong yelled as everyone dropped the net to dodge the appendages being swung at them. The creature screeched at them, continuing its attack.

 

“I think it's a  [ Kraken ](https://www.hextcg.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Final-Kraken-Cinematic-Art.jpg) !” Daehyun yelled at the others. He’s only ever heard stories about them from his father. 

 

“I thought Kraken’s weren’t real!” Youngjae looked at the creature, it was cool looking but those thought were quickly changed when Jokomato nearly missed his dodge.

 

“I did to, but what else could this thing be?” Daehyun replied to the other.

 

“Can we discuss this later, we’re being attacked if you haven’t noticed!” Himchan yelled over the rain, which became heavier, making it hard to see anything in front of them. Everything happened so fast, Jokomato was trying to free Tatsmato from the kraken, Totomato was nowhere to be seen, Shishimato was attacking the kraken head on by itself, and Dadamato nearly crashed into Kekemato when one of the tentacles smacked into Dadamato’s side, knocking Jongup off. Kekemato dived for the human but was met with a similar fate. Daehyun heard another splash, was someone coming to rescue him or did someone else get knocked down. His vision slowly faded to black and the world became silent. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter. Yup, I decided to end it with all of them dying. Aren’t I the greatest writer!   
> I hoped you enjoyed the story! Thanks for reading!  
> I want to thank Michelle for editing all the chapters. I love her so much!  
> I want to thank everyone who commented on the story, you really kept me motivated to keep writing this story.
> 
> Xoxo,  
> Lemon-Kiwi <3
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Just kidding! This isn’t the end. Come back next Saturday to find out what happens to our lovely children.


	16. Partner Swap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picking up from the last chapter. ;3

Gentle waves crashed against the sandy beach, chilling the unconscious body until he woke up. Jongup opened his eyes slowly, afraid the sunlight would blind him but was met with white. It took a few minutes for him to realize it was a wing attached to a pink dragon. Jongup crawled out from under the wing to get a better look at the unknown dragon. He stared at it in confusion; it looked like a, matoki but none of their dragons were pink. Walking around to the other side, Jongup spotted a white heart on the dragon’s ribs. Taking a moment to think, Jongup looked over the dragon again. It really did look like Kekemato, but why was it pink now? He shrugged his shoulders and dragged the now pink dragon by the front legs out of the water and to shade.

 

“What should I do now?” Jongup asked himself outloud. “I should look around, but what if Kekemato wakes up?” He yelled out for any of his members, looking up and down the beach for bodies, but was met with nothing but sand and silence. Jongup didn’t know what to do, so he sat down next to Kekemato. Maybe the dragon could figure something out when it woke up.  

 

Shishimato woke up in an unfamiliar place. Not far from the dragon sat a grumpy Himchan poking at a camp fire. **“Where is everyone else?”** Shishimato moved closer to the human; seeing Himchan alone made the dragon feel uneasy.

 

“I don’t know… I walked around the whole island and only found you.” Tears stung the corner of his eyes, dread filled his gut and his mind raced with worry and guilt. This was the first time Himchan ever felt so useless, scared, lost, on a mission. Shishimato picked up on the human’s internal struggling.

 

**“I’m sure we can find them… Maybe someone is on the island over there?”** Shishimato nodded its head towards the next small island. Himchan stared at the dragon then to the island.

 

“Is your best plan to island hop until we find everyone?” Himchan rubbed his eyes to wipe away the unfallen tears.   

 

**“Do you have a better idea?”** Himchan shook his head.

 

“Can you handle it?” 

 

**“Of course.”** Shishimato was banged up from the fight with the kraken, but he could still fly with ease. Himchan jumped onto his back and the two took off to the nearby island. 

 

Jokomato was curled around Junhong, napping, when the human started to stir in his sleep. After getting a hand shoved into its face, Jokomato nudged Junhong harshly until he woke up. Junhong looked around confused, slowly getting up to stretch his legs. 

 

“Where is everyone?”

 

**“Not sure, but everyone is probably fine.”** Jokomato got up to lead the human to the tallest cliff on the island.

 

“What do we do now?” Junhong looked out to the ocean, there were a few small islands surrounding them.

 

**“We could sit and wait or fly to the nearby islands. Your choice.”** Jokomato looked at the human, watching as he thought about their choices.

 

“Someone could be hurt... We should find everyone fast.” Jokomato nodded its head as Junhong mounted its back. The dragon wasn’t sure if they would be able to find anyone but seeing as they both still had their marks, it must mean their partners were alive.

 

Daehyun woke up to something laying on top of him.  At first he thought it was his blanket but when he went to grab it he discovered that it was a wing; that didn’t belong to Kekemato. He opened his eyes and stared at Dadamato’s face. Daehyun sat up to lightly shake the dragon. Dadamato grumbled something about five more minutes but the human just shook it even more.

  
  


**“Okay, Okay. I’m awake. What do you want?”** Dadamato peered at the human who wasn’t Jongup.  **“Wait! Where’s Jongup?”** Dadamato looked around franticly for his partner.

 

“He’s probably okay, calm down.” Daehyun tried to get the dragon to settle down.

 

**“How do you know?”** Dadamato stared at the human, unsure about their next move.

“Well I’m with you, so Jongup must be with Keke.” Daehyun was worried about his dragon and friends, but panicking about them now wouldn't do them any good. “Speaking about being together… How did we end up together?” The human could have sworn he fell into the ocean away from everyone else.

 

**“I saw a body and thought it was Jongup, so I grabbed it before the current swept us away. But I guess it was you.”** Dadamato was upset it was separated from Jongup, but glad it was able to save Daehyun.  **“What now?”**

 

“Well there are 12 small islands and the large one, so we should run into someone if we fly to each one, but we should leave something incase someone travels here. Maybe a note saying to meet up at the original island.” 

 

**“How would they find the original island?”**

 

“Lucky for us it’s the island just west of us. We’ll leave a marker pointing towards the island at each island along with a note to wait there until sundown or something.”

 

**“That sounds a great plan. Hopefully everyone is on the beach where we can spot them easily.”** Daehyun nodded his head at the dragon. Together the two make a large arrow with rocks pointing towards the original island and write a note in the sand to wait there. Proud of their work, the two take off into the sky, flying towards another island.

 

Tatsmato woke up to something falling onto its side. The dragon glared at said thing, which ended up being Youngjae, who looked at the dragon with a sheepish grin.  **“Is there a reason you fell on me?”** Tatsmato was sore and grumpy, the dragon wanted to go home and never think about this mission ever again.

 

“My bag somehow ended up in the tree so I climbed it. Then the branch broke… Lucky for me you broke my fall. My hero!” Youngjae wrapped his arms around the dragon’s neck. Tatsmato huffed at the human before looking around. The island was small and it seemed the tide went right up to the treeline during the night, but that didn’t explain how the bag ended up in the tree. Then Tatsmato remembered flying through the air with someone clinging onto it before crash landing on said island. The bag must have snagged on the tree when they fell. Youngjae walked out onto the beach looking around, suddenly yelling at Tatsmato. “Look - smoke!” Low and behold, on an island close to theirs was a small bit of smoke coming from the beach. Tatsmato didn’t waste anytime telling Youngjae to hop on and together they flew towards the smoke. 

 

Totomato nudged Yongguk again and again but the human didn’t wake up. If it wasn’t for his loud snoring, Totomato would have thought the human was dead.  **“This isn’t the time for sleeping, Yongguk.”** Totomato was ready to give up and leave Yongguk behind but the dragon couldn’t ever bring itself to actually abandon the leader. The blue masked matoki had defended the sleeping man from a few rabbits and lizards. Letting him sleep to regain energy until Totomato got impatient and worry started to eat away at its racing mind.  **“Desperate times call for desperate measures… You asked for this.”** Totomato grabbed Yongguk by the shirt, dragging him into the ocean waves, waking the leader up instantly. 

 

“What’s going on?! Yongguk sat up at looked around wildly. “What happened to the kraken? Where is everyone? Are you okay?” Yongguk’s brain was working in overtime trying to remember what happened last and wondering how he ended up on an island with only Totomato. 

 

**“Umm, I woke you up. I don’t know. I guess they're somewhere else. And I’m fine. What about you?”** Totomato helped the human out of the water, it seemed he hurt his ankle but other then that Yongguk was fine.

 

“Can you fly, Totomato?”

 

**“Yeah! Are we going to look for the others?”** Totomato bounded lightly on its feet, stopping when Yongguk moved to get on.

 

“If I’m correct, there are only 13 islands, so it shouldn’t take long to find them.” Totomato lifted off the ground gently before ascending into the sky, getting used to the unusuals weight. Totomato missed Junhong but the dragon knew they would meet up soon, the leader said so.

 

Jongup looked up in shock when he heard Youngjae yelling, not noticing the tears falling down his face until Youngjae wiped them away, pulling the younger into a hug. “I-I was so-o scared. No o-one was here and Kekemato isn’t w-waking up.” Jongup muttered into the older’s shoulder, taking a deep breath to calm down.

 

“It’s alright, I’m here now.” Youngjae pulled away from the younger to give him a once over then looked over to Kekemato… “Why is Keke pink?” Jongup shrugged his shoulders.

 

“I was hoping you would know.” Youngjae turned his head to ask Tatsmato, but the dragon seemed distressed about Kekemato, making both humans uneasy. “What’s wrong with Kekemato.” Jongup’s question seemed to snap Tatsmato out of its trance but the matoki didn’t reply, silently debating about something. The humans thought Tatsmato wasn’t going to answer but whatever the dragon was thinking before stopped.

 

**“There’s nothing wrong with Kekemato, it's a Sui Generis so I guess the pink is Kekemato’s true color.”** Both humans looked at Kekemato with awe filled eyes.

“So Kekemato has magical powers? That’s pretty cool. The pink is pretty cute as well.” Youngjae gently rubbed the pink dragon’s head, cooing at the soft sounds it made.

 

“Why do you think they kept this from us?” Jongup asked outloud, sitting down to pet the dragon’s neck.

 

**“Sui Generis aren’t accepted in dragon society.”**

 

“Why?” Jongup asked with wide eyes, his hand stopped petting Kekemato’s neck.

 

**“Because most fear the unknown. The dragon is better off dead before something happens.”** Tatsmato remembers the tales older dragons would use to invoke fear into the younger dragons about the all powerful sui generis dragons who would kill anyone in their sight. Said dragon felt silly for believing such stories seeing as Kekemato was one of the kindness dragons it knew.

 

“You aren’t going to kill Kekemato are you!?” Youngjae took a protective stance in front of the pink dragon.

 

**“Of course not! We’ve been friends for years, nothing is going to change that.”** Tatsmato huffed.

 

Himchan and Shishimato flew around another island. This was their fourth island, and so far no luck with finding any sign of the others. Himchan was slowly being eaten away from dread, but kept his composure. Shishimato suddenly flew away from the island, almost knocking Himchan off. The human was about to yell at the dragon but the words got caught in his throat when he saw who they were flying towards. Jokomato turned around when it heard someone flying behind them.

 

**“Shishimato!** Himchan!” the two yelled at the top of their lungs. Both dragons landed on an island so the humans could hug and they could all calmly talk about the situation.

“Are you two okay? I assume you haven’t ran into anyone else?” Himchan looked over both Junhong and Jokomato. 

“We’re fine. We haven’t seen anyone yet but we’ll find them.” Junhong smiled at the older, who couldn’t help but smile back. This gave meeting gave them all hope their other friends were also okay.

 

**“We should start looking again.”** Shishimato said but the dragon didn’t look ready to leave seeing that Jokomato had yet to stop rubbing its head against the leader’s. 

 

**“We’ve been flying for a while know, and I know Junhong hasn’t eaten yet… Maybe we should take a quick break and regain some energy. We can’t find anyone if we’re tired.”** Himchan bit his bottom lip, his heart yelled at them to find everyone now but his brain told him to take a break. He looked at Junhong and noticed the tired look on the younger boy, he let out sigh and agreed to taking a break. Jokomato waddled off into the ocean to catch some fish for lunch while Shishimato watched from the beach before joining the other dragon in the water, paranoid about the kraken. The humans were tasked with the duty of starting a fire to cook the fish. Once everyone was full, they left the island to continue searching for their lost members.

 

Daehyun and Dadamato were placing rocks in an arrow shape when Totomato suddenly tackled both of them onto the ground. Yongguk hobbled behind with a wide gummy smile.  **“We found you!”** Daehyun laughed at the dragon, rubbing its head between the ears. Dadamato struggled to get loose but gave up when Totomato refused to let either of them up. 

 

“Where were you guys going?” Yongguk asked when he saw the half made arrow. Totomato finally got off them to look at the rocks.

 

**“We were pointing them towards the island we were dropped off at in case we passed someone so they would know where to wait.”** Yongguk nodded his head, it was a smart idea, he would have done the same, but he didn’t know the area well enough.

 

“Good job you two. We should go to the last few islands on this side before heading back to the island.” Everyone nodded. Daehyun and Dadamato finished up the arrow and message before they all got ready to take off again but Totomato’s stomach growled loudly. 

 

**“We haven’t eaten all day, I can’t help it.”** Totomato defened. Daehyun chuckled as he dug through his bag, most of the food he packed was ruined by the water but a few things we saved by the packaging. He threw a few bars at Yongguk before unwrapping a few for Totomato.  **“These are so yummy.”** Totomato munched on the bars happily almost biting Daehyun’s finger when he fed the dragon another one.

 

“They’re my favorite and the only thing that didn’t get water logged. Lucky us.” Yongguk hummed in agreement, never before was he thankful for Daehyun’s habit of packing too much food. Once everyone was full, they flew off the island. Pausing when they saw smoke coming from the island north of them. It didn't take another minute to have both dragons racing to the island.

 

**“Hey, there’s smoke coming from that island.”** Jokomato flew towards the island, Shishimato flying close behind. The fire emitting the smoke comes into view and Jokomato lets out a loud yelp of excitement, causing everyone surrounding the fire to look up. Youngjae leaped up and hugged his dragon as soon as it landed. Junhong chuckled but was pulled into a hug by Jongup. Tatsmato ran up to Himchan, who happily hugged the dragon tightly. Shishimato did a double take when Kekemato hobbled up from behind the group. The two dragons stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

 

**“...You’re… Pink?”** This brought everyone’s attention to Kekemato. The pink dragon was a loss for words; it tried to think of something- anything. 

 

**“Wait… Did you not know this?”** Everyone looked at Jokomato with shocked looks.

 

**“Did you know?”** Kekemato asked in a timid voice, Jokomato just nodded.  **“How?”**

 

**“When I woke up after the summer solstice you were pink. I just assumed everyone knew about it and if they didn’t there was a reason.”** The clown pirate shrugged off everyone’s stares, choosing to nuzzle Youngjae instead.

 

**“There isn’t a problem with me being a Sui Generis, right?”** Kekemato asked in a timid voice. Tatsmato made sure to comfort Kekemato when it woke up, telling the dragon no one would harm it but doubt still swam around in its head.

 

**“Yeah, we’re cool. I just wasn’t expecting you to be pink. I honestly thought you might have been sunburnt or something.”** Shishimato joked earning a laugh from Kekemato and everyone else. Junhong and Himchan took a moment to examine the newly pink Kekemato, petting it and asking if the dragon could do anything cool. Kekemato suddenly blended into the sand, then lifted some of the surrounding sand into the air, spooking everyone.

“Kekemato is a sand bender!” Junhong yelled out loud. The pink dragon chuckled at the youngest member.

 

**“No, I have the ability to blend in with my surroundings and weak telekinesis.”**

 

“That’s even cooler!” Junhong looked at the dragon with starry eyes. Before they could talk more, Jongup was tackled to the ground by an excited Dadamato. Totomato let Yongguk off its back then trotted up to Junhong, while Shishimato worried over its partner swollen ankle. Daehyun ran up to Kekemato with a worried look on his face, wondering why his dragon wasn’t disguised. The pink dragon whispered the day's events to its partner. 

 

When Kekemato woke up, it was already surrounded by three of the members who happily accepted the fact it was pink, then the other four came and easily took the new information as well. It seemed the others were told about the new discovery because both Dadamato and Totomato jumped around the duo taking turns nuzzling the dragon. Yongguk patted its head and pulled Daehyun into a headlock for not telling them sooner. 

 

They spent a good while catching up over food and started to plan their next move. Surely it was in their best interest to head back to the mainland but B.A.P were too stubborn to give up. Daehyun told them it was going to be clear skies tonight so they had a better chance of fighting the kraken. They flew back to the original island and found the fishing net from last night. Daehyun and Himchan were able to fix it with things they found around the old campsite. Yongguk watched as the buoys bobbed in the water, gently floating in the waves before drawing out their plan of attack on the sand. It was decided to sleep until nightfall to regain their strength then wait for the kraken to return. 

 

Himchan was the first to wake up, he started up another fire before waking up everyone else. Yongguk went over the plan again, slowly explaining every little detail. They weren’t going to lose this time. Just like the night before the buoys was pulled under the water, this time they were ready. Shishimato, Dadamato, and Totomato pulled the net out of the water. Tatsmato wasted no time firing at the kraken, making the beast resurface. Without the rain obscuring their vision, the kraken was much easier to defeat, it was slower than the dragons and couldn’t keep up with the rapid fire blasts. Junhong was able to deal the final blow with his magical sword, stabbing into the kraken's head before letting out a powerful shock. 

 

“How much sushi do you think we could make with this thing?” Daehyun joked. The conversation was cut short when a loud horn caught their attention, it was Mr.Jung’s ship. A few dragonriders flew from the boat and asked them what happened. The kraken was loaded onto the boat to be brought back to shore for further examination. Mr.Jung told the team, he was worried when they didn’t return so he called for backup incase something happened. Yongguk and Himchan handled the reports on the boat, asking another member to turn it in for them. The team headed to Daehyun’s house, where they were greeted by Mrs.Jung and dinner. They all passed out in the living room after dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter was originally going to be from Jongup’s P.o.V and focus on Kekemato being pink but I couldn’t think of a long enough chapter idea with just the two of them so I split it up into multiple P.o.Vs. If anyone is confused why everyone just accepted Kekemato right off the bat, it’s mostly due to their bond as a team and coupled with the fact most of them didn’t really ‘know’ what a Sui Generis really was. Tatsmato, Shishimato, Dadamato and Totomato only heard stories about them and were told to kill them on sight without a real explanation. Also out of all of the dragons only Tatsmato really listened to the elder dragons, the others usually brushed them off or didn’t listen. Jokomato didn’t know anything and just assumed it was a thing some dragons could do. Humans are neutral about Sui Generis dragons and treat them like any other dragon.


	17. The Summer Games.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> B.A.P participate in the MLDC.

The end of summer was approaching fast and with it came the Major League Dragul Cup. People from all over came to watch dragonriders compete against each other to win the gold. 

 

Himchan walked into the main chamber with a small stack of paper in his hands. Daehyun immediately saw the paperwork and sat up, bouncing in his seat. This caused everyone else to get excited, except Youngjae who was confused. No one has ever shown this much enthusiasm for paperwork. “What’s the paper for?” Youngjae took a stapled packet of paper from Himchan and read the large bold text. “Major League Dracul Cup entry forms?” It sounded familiar but where did he hear it from. Youngjae was lost in thought for a second when Daehyun let out a dramatic gasp, slapping both hands onto his cheeks.

 

“You don’t know what the MLDC is? Do you live under a rock?” Youngjae ignored the older in favor of thinking. Daehyun grunted when Yongguk elbowed him in the ribs, his glare clearly said ‘don’t be rude’ but Daehyun just shrugged it off and waited for the younger to reply. Everyone jumped slightly  when Youngjae suddenly yelled ‘I remember now!’ They leaned in closer to Youngjae, curious about what he was talking about.

 

“Jaebum used to write about it a lot when he started his training, it’s like a game competition thingy for dragon riders.” Youngjae looked proud of himself for remembering and everyone laughed in amusement.

 

“That’s one way to describe it.” Junhong snickered before calming down. “So are you going to apply? This is me and Jongup’s first year competing. We can do one of the team games.” 

 

**“I’m going to win all the games!”** Dadamato shouted suddenly, butting his head into the conversation.

 

“But we can only apply to 5 max. 2 solo and 2 team and then there is the gang/herd race.” Jongup said looking up from the packet at his dragon.

 

**“I don’t think you heard** **_me_ ** **right. I said** **_ALL_ ** **of them.”** Jongup let out an exaggerated sigh but didn’t argue with Dadamato. The other dragons wandered over to their partners to discuss which competition they wanted to enter. Youngjae tackled a sleeping Jokomato who didn’t wake up. Youngjae huffed, lightly shook the dragon until it woke up.

 

**“What?”** Jokomato looked at its partner with one eye open.

 

“Do you want to play a few games in the MLDC?” Youngjae wiggled the packet in front of the dragon’s face.

 

**“Not really but I assume you want to.”** Youngjae nodded his head firmly, determination sparked in his eyes.  **“Fine, we can do one or two. What is there?”** Jokomato listened to Youngjae list off all the different events they could apply to.  **“I wonder what Jaebum is doing. It would be fun to race against him and Nora.”**

 

“We should ask!” Youngjae didn’t wait for his dragon before bolting out the B.A.P chamber. 

 

“Hey what about the team game!?” Junhong yelled but Youngjae was already gone. Jokomato followed sluggishly behind the human, ignoring Junhong’s question. The youngest pouted at the others but was only met with amused grins. Jongup took pity on his friend and told him they could ask later.

 

“You can be on my team for the three rider relay if you want.” Himchan offered the youngest with a comforting smile. Junhong happily agreed to be on his team along with Daehyun. Daehyun and Himchan were only doing one solo and one team game this year so they could focus more on the herd race. Junhong wasn’t sure about which games he wanted to do and Totomato didn’t really care for competing, both of them only wanted to have fun with their friends. Jongup offered a friendly competition to see who could beat the other in archery. They both giggled at the idea of them failing horribly but they signed up for it anyways. Unsurprisingly Himchan and Yongguk signed up for the same solo race. They enjoyed using the MLDC as an excuse to kindle their rivalry. Last year they tied in the 10,000 meter race and demanded a rematch even though neither of them placed, the judges were quick to shut down the rematch. Daehyun laughed at them from the second place podium while Junhong and Jongup sat in the stands embarrassed by their competition hungry friends.

 

Youngjae barged into the Got7 chambers waving the packet around wildly. All the members looked up at him before Jackson jumped up to drag Youngjae into their circle. Youngjae stared right into Jaebum’s eyes, they both knew what was coming. “I _ challenge _ you to a race!” Youngjae pointed his finger right into Jaebum’s face. The slightly older boy leaned back with a smirk. “You’re on. I can beat you at anything, pick whatever you want.” Youngjae was about to reply but he didn’t know what solo event he wanted to do. Jaebum snorted at his childhood friend as he flipped through the pages. 

“How about the aerial obstacle course?” Youngjae offered. The race involved dodging projectiles and flying through rings of different sizes suspended in mid-air by long poles. Jaebum nodded his head, the two men shake hands and sign up for the game.

 

“Now onto the important question!” Bambam jumped into the conversation, grabbing Youngjae’s arm. “Do you have any plans for a team game?” Bambam asked excitedly. Yugyeom nodded his head along with Bambam. “No, you don’t get to have Youngjae on a team.” Bambam pouted.

 

“What, why not? Don’t tell me you’re still butt hurt about me joining Jungkook’s team for the relay instead of yours?” Yugyeom took Bambam’s silence as a yes. “It’s not my fault he asked first. Come on we can do something else. Haven’t you been whining about wanting to play polo.” This caught both Bambam’s and Youngjae’s attention. Yugyeom smiled and asked their Youngjae if he wanted to be their last member, who shyly agreed. Jackson complained about not getting an invitation to join the polo team but Jinyoung rolled his eye and told the sulking puppy he already picked two team events.

 

“Do you have another team game picked out?” Mark asked not their Youngjae.

 

“No but Jokomato only wants to do a few. Sorry.” The older boy shrugged and smiled, wishing them good luck on practicing for polo. Youngjae bid them farewell before making his way back to the B.A.P chamber to finish filling out the packet. He tackled Junhong on the couch when he came back, kissing the youngest on the cheek. Giggling when Junhong’s cheeks turned a vibrant scarlet. “Sorry for running off earlier. Tell me about the herd race?” Youngjae looked at the younger boy with his best puppy eyes. Junhong huffed but told him that they saved him a spot on their herd relay race. The next few weeks were spent preparing for the MLDC. Youngjae watched in amazement as the Dragon Guard slowly transformed into a large coliseum with multiple rings to hold the different games. The Kingdom streets slowly became more and more crowded with each passing day. 

-

The day finally arrived and the stands were already crowed before the first games even began. Youngjae gently chewed on his thumb nail, nervously looking around. Jokomato was napping without a care in the world. Jaebum finally showed up with Nora following close behind. Youngjae let out a sigh of relief.   
"What are you so worked up about?" Jaebum tutted.   
"I was worried I might have been in the the wrong room. I had to ask for directions five times and I'm still not sure I'm in the right place." Youngjae stated.   
"You'll get used to it. You ready to lose?" Jaebum smirked.   
"Psh, Joko and I are ready to kick some ass!" Youngjae elbowed his friend.   
**"Doesn't look like it."** Nora butted in, sniffing the sleeping matoki. **"Is Jokomato dead?"** **  
** "No... At least I don't think so?" Youngjae gently poked his dragon with his foot. "I can still win without Joko, just you watch.”   
**"Now you're just talking out your ass."** Jokomato deicide to wake up finally, stretching out like a cat.  **"When does this thingy start? I have a date-"**   
"WHAT!?" The other three exclaimed in shock.   
**"With my bed. You guys need to learn how to finish listening."** Jokomato was going to say with Kekemato but they didn't need to know about that just yet.   
**"Geez, it seems all you do is sleep."** Nora joked lighty.   
**"Sleep is a wondrous thing and naps are even better."** Jokomato replied semi seriously.   
"We can talk about sleeping later, the race is about to start. Let's gear up and head over to the starting gate." Jaebum said as he placed his saddle onto Nora. Youngjae did the same to Jokomato. There were eight other racers participating in the aerial obstacle course. Youngjae shyly waved to Ken, a member of Vixx, and Young K, a member of Day6, quietly wishing them good luck. There was a short count down and then a horn blared loudly. The gate doors flew open and all the dragons took off instantly. The beginning was simple, fly between the hanging walls, go through some rings but the further they flew the more challenging it got. Soon everyone was dodging arrows and moving obstacles. Youngjae was so focused on leading Jokomato threw the chaos he forgot this was even a race. The black and white checkered finish line was in sight and Jokomato booked it double time, The ribbon snapped across the dragon's chest and the crowd went wild. Youngjae waved at his friends from the 1st place podium and smirked at Jaebum, who pulled him into a headlock causing Youngjae to drop onto the 2nd place podium. When Youngjae emerged from the waiting room, Daehyun was there waiting for him.   
  
"Good job." The older said with a smile. Youngjae just shrugged it off, a cocky smirk settled on his face. Daehyun just rolled his eyes before dragging the other man to a different part of the large coliseum. They wonder around the stands of another event, looking for Himchan and Yongguk. It was Totomato who ended up finding them on the wrong side of the stands. A quick jog to D side and everyone settled down to watch Junhong and Jongup fail miserable at archery. Surprisingly the two youngest members didn't come in last place. They didn't place either but hey 5th and 6th place was better than last. Jongup ignored his friends in the stands roaring with glee while Junhong blushed madly with embarrassment. Totomato giggled and Dadamato ate the compliments right up, puffing his chest out with pride... Pride for 5th place but pride nonetheless. Himchan told Youngjae to wait for the two youngest members while he, Yongguk and Daehyun left to prepare for their 10,000 meter race. Youngjae awkwardly stood there, he watched as people walked through the hallway.   
"What's taking them so long." Youngjae pouted as he crossed his arms, rocking back and forth on his feet. He jumped when two hands covered his eyes.   
"Guess who." A creepy voice whispered into his ear.   
"Damn it Jongup, You scared the living shit out of me!" Youngjae yanked the younger's hands off his face and turned to face the giggling man. Jongup quickly held his hands up in surrender when Youngjae smacked his shoulder. Junhong popped up behind Youngjae, efficiently scaring the older man again. Youngjae ignored both of them until they bought him food from the various vendors sets up. The three riders and three matoki found seats near the top of the stands, it was the perfect place to watch the race. Youngjae went over the pros and cons of eating all the food before saying fuck it and shoving all the delicious food into his mouth. Jongup laughed and poked his puffed out cheeks.   
"You look like a chipmunk." Jongup let out a yelp when Youngjae bit his finger. Junhong was on the floor laughing his ass off.   
"The race is about to start." Totomato said quietly and the humans sat up straight and watched the starting gates closely.    
  
Daehyun watched as Himchan and Yongguk glared at each other. Their old rivalry seeping through the air.   
"You would think they would have stopped this childish rivirly by now." Minhyuk said, spooking Daehyun.   
"Most people would think you would have stopped your rivirly with Hyunsik a long time ago but look it's still there." Daehyun teased and Minhyuk just snorted but didn't deny it. From an outsider's perspective, rivirly within the group might cause problems and sometimes it does but most of the time it pushes the rivals to their limits, thus making them stronger so it wasn't a bad thing. Daehyun did wish the two older members could tone it down from time to time tho. The riders were called to the starting gates. Ten racers stood in the ready position, waiting for the gates to open. Everyone flew out the gates the moment they opened. The track was in a straight line and the pressure of everyone flying so close shot adrenaline through Daehyun's body. The other racers faded into the blurry background, it was just him and Kekemato flying as one.    
  
Jongup, Junhong, and Youngjae both cringe when Himchan purposely smacked Yongguk in the head with his shoe causing Shishimato to fight back by knocking its wing into Tatsmato. "Is this how they race every year?" Youngjae asked.   
"Yup." Jongup was rubbing his cheeks with his hands. Junhong was slouching in his seat.   
"We honestly only show up to support Daehyun." Junhong added. Like magic the three of them looked back to Daehyun just in time to see him cross the finish line, the crowd was dead silent. The ref had Minhyuk's left arm in one hand and Daehyun's right arm in the other. The crowd broke out into cheers when the ref raised Daehyun's arm. Youngjae held Junhong in a deathly grip, shaking him in pure excitement.   
"He won 1st!" Jongup said falling back into his seat. They watched as Daehyun waved to them from the 1st place podium, they waved back happily, Snickering when Daehyun waved at Himchan and Yongguk. Neither of them placed and somehow managed to tie again. They were just too matched for each other. Youngjae barely had time to congratulate Daehyun before Yugyeom and Bambam dragged him away with Youngjae following closely behind, softly apologizing to Daehyun for his members' rudeness.   
  
Youngjae gave up on struggling and let the younger two do as they pleased, soon enough he found himself in a matching Team Dab shirt. Youngjae gave the older Youngjae a sympathy smile and Youngjae fought the urge to strangle Jaebum if he didn't stop laughing. With an over dramatic sigh Youngjae followed the other three riders out onto the field. He could hear Daehyun's loud obnoxious laugh from the stands. "It could be worse." Jokomato said getting into an offensive position.   
"How could it get any worse?" Youngjae mumbled under his breath. The ref blew the whistle and the game began. Polo was a simple game, smack a ball around to score points in the other team's goal. There was also a lot of flying back and forth.  With only one minute on the clock Team dab was trying their hardest to score one more point to break the tie but the other team's defence was too strong. A chance point arrived when Youngjae spotted Yugyeom struggling to get the ball past Jungkook. Youngjae took a deep breath before yelling at the two, "Are you guys trying to make out or something?" This made both riders freeze with burning cheeks and Bambam fell of his dragon laughing. Youngjae took advantage of the situation and smacked the ball towards the goal, only to have Dino block his shot and make a goal on their side. Both teams shook hands but Jungkook and Yugyeom were still frozen in the middle of the field.   
"I think you broke them, Youngjae." Dino said, watching the two blushing fools stare at the ground.   
"I got this." Bambam said before cupping his hands and yelling, "Are you guys going to start fucking on the field?" This made everyone gasp and had Jungkook and Yugyeom running off the field. "They're totally going to do the do." Bambam told everyone. No one argued with him as they walked off the field so the next game could start without delay.   
  
Youngjae and Jokomato waddled through the crowd to the racing side of the coliseum. He spotted Yongguk and Jongup, now was the perfect time to get revenge. Youngjae walked up behind Jongup and covered the younger man's eyes with his hands, except Jongup didn't even respond. Youngjae huffed in disappointment then followed Yongguk to where the others were waiting. Junhong showed off his first place metal to Youngjae when they entered the room. The older was sort of bummed he missed the 3 rider relay and demanded Junhong to tell him the exact play by play.The track was in the traditional oval shape but instead of a starting gate there were platforms. Himchan did the first leg of the race, then Daehyun and Junhong finished it. It was a close race until Kekemato took off, flying ahead of everyone. That gave Totomato a great lead that was maintained the rest of the race, no one had come close to beating them.    
  
The last event was a gang/herd relay race, it was the event everyone waited for. The groups were split up into three categories based on the amount of members in the gang/herd. B.A.P were in categorie 6, since they had six members. The race was one lap around the whole kingdom with multiple platforms where the members pass the baton to each other. It was about speed and teamwork, the team who won 1st got the title of ‘best team’ for a year and a free meal at the castle’s all you can eat buffet. Plus bragging rights but enough of that it’s time for the race to start. The order was going to be Daehyun> Junhong> Yongguk> Youngjae> Himchan> Jongup. All the racers settled on their platforms and waited. Kekemato didn’t hesitate to launch off the platform right when the horn buzzed, Wings easily cutting threw the wind current. There were a few dragons ahead of the duo but they kept their cool. A turn was coming up soon and that would be when they take the lead straight into Junhong. Daehyun was able to secure 1st place but the other riders were close behind. The baton was passed is ease and now it was up to Junhong and Totomato to further their lead. Totomato was one of the fastest dragons at the Dragon Guard so getting distance on the other racers came naturally but it still wasn’t enough. There was a short fumble of the baton when Junhong passed it to Yongguk, giving the other riders the few seconds they needed to close the distance a little bit. Unfortunate for them B.A.P don’t give up that easily. Shishimato was able to regain the lead they had before right when they passed the baton to Youngjae. Jokomato may be the lazy dragon of the group but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fast. The other dragons struggled to keep up and Youngjae was slowly putting distance between them and the other racers. Youngjae gave Himchan a wink as he passed the baton causing the older man to roll his eyes fondly. The race was nearing its last stretch and everyone in the stands were on the edge of their seats. Tatsmato and Himchan made it to Jongup no problem. Dadamato had its mind set on 1st place and Jongup was thinking the same thing. The finish line was visible when they turned the last corner, a sudden burst of adrenaline promised B.A.P’s victory. Jongup was quickly pulled into a group hug and Yongguk held the gold trophy above their heads. They did it, they won. This means the all you can eat buffet was theirs. That’s all anyone ever wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to write!!! I have no excuse as to why this didn’t come out earlier. I finished the beginning part of this chapter about 2 month ago but when it came to the actual event part I kinda didn’t know how I wanted to approach it then I just pushed it off to the side. When I finally came back I honestly forgot what I wrote and reading it over I decided to cut down on the amount of events each person was doing because there were too many. I wanted to make this chapter perfect but at the same time my passion for this story had died down a lot but I powered through it! But that being said this is the final chapter.  
> I viewed the long break as a sign that it was time to move on and also because this was the last chapter I had planned out from the beginning. (I had a basic chapter outline planned out for all 14 chapters before I even started writing ch1.) I may come back to this au at some point but it probably won’t be solely focused on B.A.P and will probably be a collection of oneshots because planning out a solid plot/timeline is actually a lot of work and I don’t know if I’m up to that challenge just yet.  
> As my very first fanfic I think this came out pretty well. Sure it may not be the best but I’m satisfied with it.  
> I want to say thank you to Michelle for editing this whole thing even tho she isn’t in the kpop fandom.  
> I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story.  
> I want to give a big thank you to everyone who commented because you people really kept me going and inspired me to continue. I honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to enjoy my writing but the fact some of you did really means a lot to me!


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